Eds's Bizarre Adventure: Jawbreaker is Unbreakable
by TheCrazyJackalope
Summary: It started with spring cleaning, then to him getting his personal bodyguard and now he has to fight psychotic people way out of his league, Eddy thought his life couldn't get any more bizarre until the universe added a magical arrow into the fold.
1. Spring Cleaning With Your Heirloom Arrow

**Prologue: Spring Cleaning With Your Heirloom Arrow**

Rolf pried the cellar door open with a heavy grunt. It fell to the side, sending up a cloud of dust that made him cough as he inhaled it. Once that subsided, the sunlight streaming in from behind him lit up the darkened cellarway. Where was the blasted thing—There!

Just at the very back of the cellar, a long, thin glass casket with golden trims sat in the shadows, with it being barely visible unless one squinted closely at the space around the casket. Inside holds a clean linen cushion where an ornate arrow with a gold and silver arrowhead laid inside, accompanied by a not as impressive bow.

Rolf carefully journeyed downwards the darkened cellar and made his way towards the thin glass container, lifting it with delicate care not normally seen from the usual hardworking boy. Rolf rounded back around towards the cellar door and closed the subterranean room from behind him as he viewed the thin casket with interest.

It was a family heirloom—of course, nearly half the objects in his house were valuable to his family in some way. It exuded age in a way that is only possible to an object as old as the founding of one's family, yet it was also permeated with the scent of something that hasn't seen a good cleaning in literal generations. The faint yet nagging odor of rust hung in the air around the arrow as he took it out of the case, and even the softest of his breaths immediately stirred a thick cloud of dust right off the golden heirloom.

Rolf coughed harshly as he gulped in the dust by accident and furrowed his brow at the offending arrow in an almost disapproving manner.

It had most definitely needed a firm scrub, wash, anything to get rid of that annoying rusty scent.

* * *

"When you said we'll do an activity to pass the time, spring cleaning your friggin' basement is the last thing I'd see myself enjoying." groused Eddy.

"I like it Eddy!" cheered the taller Ed, "It reminds me of my room, except if Double-D was living in it instead!"

"Ed, if I were to live in my basement it would look vastly different from your own living quarters." Edd said with flat frown, "and I never said tidying up my basement was fun, only that'll pass the time."

"But cleaning up a basement is like trying to clean out Ed's jacket, it's practically destined to be dirty." Eddy groaned as he halfheartedly sorted through a pile metal scraps, pushing aside useless parts and one that can be recycled for future creations.

"That may be, but cleaning one's basement can provide one with a sense of order and cleanliness, which can—"

"Cut the mini-speeches, if you're trying to convert us to be neat freaks like you then you're wasting your time. I'd sooner be Kevin's best chum before I make my room a carbon copy of yours." Eddy hissed, "Now can we take a fifteen-minute break? I've been bending over to sort through your own junk for the last two hours and if I have to do more I'll drop dead from being overworked."

"Two hours, forty-six minutes and thirty-two seconds if we're being precise but I see your point. I guess we can stop for today and pick up again tomorrow." Edd dumped the last pan of dirt and dust into the nearby trash bin and gently set the dustpan down with the broom.

Seeing Edd ending their spring cleaning session, Eddy eagerly abandoned the finished pile of metal and clicked his fingers. Ed quickly rushed to his side and the two boys left through the stairs.

Eddy and Ed entered the kitchen and saw Edd placed three cups of lemonade down on the kitchen table. Without any further persuasion, they wordlessly grabbed a cup and started chugging the yellow liquid down their throat.

"It's impolite to take things without asking, you know," pointed Edd out uselessly. Eddy smacked his lips and wiped the lingering lemonade drops off his mouth.

"Lemme guess, you'll say,「And it's improper to clean one's lips with one's arm,」right?"

"And it's improper to clean one's lips with one's arm." Edd repeated. His eyes suddenly dilated, "! How did you—?!"

"I spent the last eight years being your neighbor and friend, let's just say people are easier to read when you have fun around them." Eddy answered cryptically, "Besides, don't try to give us some proper manners. Remember the last time you tried to do that?"

"Ooh, don't remind me, I thought I had accidentally worsened your misbehaviors and mischief when I tried to reform you," Edd shuddered, "I just barely escaped a thrashing, courtesy of Kevin when Ed demolished his bike as he was running away from my broccoli."

"Sorry Double-D, but broccoli is no good for Ed," quivered Ed instinctually, despite broccoli being out of his sight, "icky, yucky broccoli."

"Yeah I never get how people are supposed to enjoy broccoli," Eddy spat the word out as if it were a curse word, "it's gross, bitter, and taste like grass's rejected cousin."

"It's healthy for you. Something that's good for you doesn't necessarily have to be palatable." frowned Edd, lowering his half-empty lemonade cup.

"Yeah, whatever. I'd take pizza, hamburgers and french fries over veggies any time of day. I'll only eat vegetable stuff only if it makes me cash," grunted Eddy.

The three boys went silent after that statement made by Eddy and finished off their drinks in relative tranquility. Eddy wiped his lips and spoke out, "Now that I'm done working with your own scrap junk, I'm heading home and, I dunno, take a nap and think of scams or something."

But before he could leave the kitchen.

 **ドーンギューン _！_**

"What was that?"

"WILFRED!"

The angered squealing of a pig, and some noise resembling that of a large fist impacting against the ground entered their ears.

Ed and Edd turned to the kitchen window in awe and Eddy, changing his mind, quickly pirouetted around on his heels and dashed toward the window to view the spectacle.

From the Eds' vantage point, they could see Wilfred the pig and their immigrant neighbor Rolf engaged in some sort strange confrontation taking place in their backyard/farm, wielding what appeared to be an invisible force against each other. Suddenly, Wilfred quickly barreled out of the way and a moment later, a ditch gouged itself where the pig once stood.

"What."

"The."

"Heck." Eddy ended with a monotone voice.

Rolf's arms moved as though he was guiding the invisible force's strikes, moving his hands in a swift and abrupt manner. Meanwhile, Wilfred had simply oinked and squealed loudly and darted wildly throughout the little farm, where even more pits dug itself where the pig once was.

This has continued on for a solid ten minutes, and every minute the Eds' jaw dropped lower until it was practically dislocated from how much their lower jaw dropped. Gradually, the farm grew more and more marred with pits and ditches, giving it a semblance of rather earthly cheese.

Suddenly, Wilfred was launched off of his hooves and straight into a tree, ending the battle as abruptly as it started. Rolf panted slightly and dusted his clothes after the battle. He paced towards the unconscious swine and hoisted the animal onto his shoulder, tossed him into the pigpen, tightly securing the gate and muttered something about upgrading the pigpen after 'this troubling development'.

The Eds blinked with a dropped jaw, flabbergasted at the ridiculous event that had taken place right across from their window. They silently turned around from the window, Eddy rubbed his sore jaw tiredly and said, "You know, I saw a lot, and I do mean a lot, of weird crap coming from Rolf. But this just really takes the cake."

"That was so cool!" Ed squealed, "It's like an all-awesome ghost fight! Like magical robot fighting!"

"Truly baffling," Edd murmured. He opened and closed his mouth, trying to find the words to express what he saw, but then settled to say, "Mayhaps I should talk with Rolf to see what that situation was about, to glean some context, so to speak."

"Sockhead, this is Rolf we're talking about. It probably makes just as much sense with context without context." Eddy stated pointedly, though Edd had already left his chair. The beanie-wearing boy left the kitchen room and his house, leaving the two remaining Eds' view.

Ed and Eddy glanced at each other for an extended period of time, engaging in a silent debate via facial expressions and eyebrow twitches. Then, coming to an agreement, they too rose from their seat and followed Edd out of the house.

The signature trio approached their neighbor's house and rapped the door three times. The Eds patiently (and yes this also included Eddy) as Rolf called out from inside the house distantly, "Rolf will be with you in just a moment or two! Please be patient!"

Eddy silently tapped the soil with his toes to passed the time and he glanced at Edd, who was staring at the door in an attentive way. Ed fiddled his hands in an absent-minded manner, with his eyes floating wherever, which Eddy had grown to recognize as his weird-conspiracy-theorist side taking over. The cool summer wind whipped their clothes slightly as faint footsteps could be heard from inside the house.

Finally, the door creaked inwards and Rolf peeked his head out, a smile gracing his somewhat bemused face as he saw Edd in front of the door, "Why hello, highly-loquacious-and-sagacious Ed-boy! And dull-headed and money-keen Ed boys! Come in, come in!"

Edd entered the house without hesitation, and after another moment of internal debate, Eddy entered Rolf's home, whistling the dumber Ed to come inside, "Ed! In!"

After Ed entered through the door and closed it behind him, Rolf gestured the three Eds to seat themselves to the salmon-colored sofa while he positioned himself on the grander armchair, steepling his fingers together.

Edd shifted carefully into a comfortable position and cleared his throat, "Rolf. We three are witnesses to the bizarre event that had taken place in your farmyard, where you had a confrontation with your livestock pig, Wilfred. Perhaps you can enlighten us about what had happened earlier?"

The farmboy merely blinked slightly and leaned back on the armchair. He had expected Edd to asked that question; after all, they were immediate neighbors and Edd was always more observant than his friends.

"Rolf would be happy to explain to the three-peas-fused-in-a-pod Ed-boys what had transpired in his farmyard, but on one condition. You are to never mention the content of this discussion to any of our peers. This is a matter of utmost secrecy."

"What? Why should—"

"Eddy, please!" Edd urged the short-tempered Eddy, "We should agree to Rolf's demands for now."

Eddy gently pushed the frailer boy's arm of off him, "Sorry Nerd-o, but if Rolf wanna keep a secret, it's a good idea for me to bail out now so I wouldn't spill the secret by accident. C'mon Ed, let's go and wait outside for Sockhead to finish this little conference."

Before Edd could call out for them to stop, the dimwitted Ed and Eddy had already left the house. Rolf watched their departure with a somewhat placid look, "While Rolf doesn't mind having the two Ed-boys hearing his secret, neck-and-head-conjoined-together Ed-boy is right; he has a tongue more slippery than Wilfred's backside after a muck shower. Perhaps it is best that he shouldn't hear our discussion."

"Of course," turning his head back to Rolf, Edd coughed slightly, "now if you please; what exactly happened in your farm?"

"To first answer that question, Rolf must retrieve an item essential for answering that question. Please allow him a moment to get it."

The boy stood up and hurried away, leaving Edd to himself for a moment. A minute went by and Rolf had returned with a long thin object in his hand. Repositioning himself on his armchair, Rolf held out the object carefully, "Tell me, Ed-boy. Do you recognize what this is?"

"Arrow, the arrowhead is a medieval-type broadhead if I were to guess. From how you seem to hold it, am I not too far off from saying this is yet another one of your family heirloom?" Edd questioned.

Rolf smiled and nodded, "Correct, head-in-sock Ed-boy. However, this isn't just one of Rolf's treasured legacy. He believed it may be connected to the puzzling case that had happened in Rolf's backyard."

"How so?"

"Tell Rolf, Double-D Ed-boy. Do you know what a Stand is?"

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **Oh boy, another story! *forced enthusiasm***

 **Man, I'm on a roll with these stories am I? Let's hope I can keep this one alive!**

 **Anyways, say hello to _Ed, Edd 'n Eddy's Bizarre Adventure: Jawbreaker is Unbreakable!—_ holy shit that's a long-ass title, maybe I should shorten it. This is, of course, an EE'nE/JJBA crossover, and it will probably be decent! Hopefully, maybe. I pray I can consistently update this one.**

 **Tell me what you think of it, alright? Review if you like it and PM for suggestions and questions! Hope you like it!**


	2. Rolf and『Amarillo Sky』

**Chapter 1: Rolf 'n『Amarillo Sky』**

"A...Stand?"

Rolf nodded.

"No. But if you may, would you care to tell me what exactly a 'Stand' is?"

"The Son of the Shepherd would be delighted to. But please Ed-boy, try to keep an open mind to what Rolf is going to say, for he knows you will be highly skeptical of the topic of his explanation."

"That'll depend on what the focus of our discussion is, but getting back on track, what exactly is a Stand?"

"Well, a Stand is a manifestation of one's psyche, an expression of the soul, so Rolf speaks. A Stand can come in varieties of shapes and sizes, and are either used for combat purposes or more utility-based work, and they usually defend their masters without hesitation. Anyone with a soul and life force can develop a Stand, but only those with a strong enough spirit can properly control it, such as Rolf himself."

Edd relaxed back into the sofa and pushed his fingers gently together, mulling over what Rolf had explained to him, "So from what you had elucidated to me, a Stand is something like a psychical avatar, a supernatural being that defends its' user no matter the cost, and is as varied as the human mind."

"Well, that's one way of explaining Stands, but yes, Rolf believes the head-in-sock Ed-boy is right."

Edd frowned; supernatural beings made by one's spirit responsible for scoring meter-long ditches in one's backyard? That sounds like something that came right out of a shounen manga! There has to be a scientific, realistic and most importantly, logical explanation for that.

"But Rolf, the supernatural can't explain how chunks of the earth and dirt get displaced from the ground logically, or if Stands really exist, then how come neither Ed, Eddy or I can see your own Stand?"

"The first inquiry Rolf doesn't know the answer; Rolf supposes Double-D Ed-boy will have to discover that on his own," Rolf chuckled good-heartedly, "but to answer your second question, the reason why the three Ed-boys can't see Rolf's Stand is because the Ed-boys aren't Stand users themselves."

Edd blinked, "So from what you said, only—"

"—Stand users can see other Stand users' Stands."

"That's a rather silly and trivial rule, isn't it?" snorted Edd, "So if I wanted to see your Stand, how do I go and develop my own Stand?"

"Two ways; either from being pierced with a special arrow from Rolf's village, or being born naturally with a Stand."

Edd eyed the green and silver arrow in Rolf's grip, "And I'm right to assume that fin-stabilized projectile in your hands isn't simply another one of your treasured family heirloom?"

Rolf nodded, "This arrow is a treasured item passed down from ancestors to predecessors ever since the very founding of Rolf's family. This item has the power to bequeath Stands upon living things, regardless whether they're humans or animals. He knows so because he witnessed Wilfred piercing himself with Rolf's arrow and he gained a Stand soon afterward."

"This is...very hard to believe," Edd swallowed thickly, as though to punctuate his doubt, "How should I know that you're speaking the truth? I simply can't take something unbelievable like spiritual avatars and guardian-bequeathing arrows as hard fact at face value, no matter how much I try."

"Rolf knows your uncertainty with the subject of the supernatural. So that's why Rolf invites the head-in-sock Ed-boy to cut himself with his arrow."

"Erm…how deep should the wound be?"

"Deep enough to draw a bit of blood."

The precocious schoolboy stared at the arrow hesitantly and went over the possibilities laid in front of him. What if this was just a joke played by Rolf? And that even he didn't know what had caused the events in his backyard and had just merely attributed it to some strange folk belief back in his native country?

No. Rolf was generally a hardworking and honest boy, and if he usually ascribed a logical event to being the work of some sort of bizarre and strange spirit, it's usually because he didn't know any better. Besides, even if it was a joke, then this was a little too extreme; cutting him with a sharp object just to prove he was gullible enough to fall for a bit of practical joke. He doubted even Eddy would go that far just to trick him with good humor.

Edd grimaced excitedly; but if Rolf turned out to be telling the truth, and Stands truly exist, then maybe he could research and document his own Stand, observe and analyze the nature of Stands to a more psychological and physical level, and maybe even publish a paper with photographic evidence and testimony from Rolf's family or even home country!

In an act driven by his temporary vision of grandeur, Edd quickly extended a hand out and gestured for the arrow. Rolf carefully handed him the sharp object, and warned, "Be careful Ed-boy, there may be some unforeseen consequences if you are not careful,"

Edd nodded to signal his acknowledgment and carefully aimed the arrow at the palm of his right hand. Hands trembling slightly from nervousness and anticipation, the beanie-capped boy inhaled deeply to steady his nerves and the tremors subsided somewhat. Hands steady enough for a moment, Edd quickly drew the edge of the arrowhead across his palm with a clean, surgical-like accuracy, drawing forth some drops of blood that smeared itself over both the arrowhead's edge and his palm.

Adrenaline now subsided and the sensation of pain returning to his hand, a sharp sting spread through his hand and made him dropped the arrow in pain, forcing him to clasp his left hand over the already-healed wound.

"Ed-boy?"

"It didn't work! Ow ow ow...my hand~!" whimpered Edd as he moved the pad of his thumb over his hand, gently brushing up against the healed skin and sending waves of stinging sensations all over his hand.

"Ed-boy, you're being delusional, your hand is healed!"

Edd wanted to shout, "No it's not!" in a rather uncharacteristic way and lifted his definitely healed hand at him—Wait, what?

As he raised his right hand, he spotted the lack of bloodstain and cut wound on his hand, and paused halfway to examine his hand. It was as intact before he had sliced his hand, completely untouched. It was as like arrow never came in contact with his skin, if anything it looked better than before he had cut his hand. Edd stared at his healed palm in awe, poking at where the wound once was.

"Did, did I miss?" Edd mumbled.

"Rolf sees it as clear as a bright Sunday moonlight through his bedroom window; the Ed-boy really did pierced himself with his arrow," Rolf assured, "Now, if you really did gain a Stand, you should be able to view the Son of the Shephard's Stand. Come forth, Amarillo Sky!"

Suddenly, Rolf's body emitted a faint green glow that appeared to flicker in the air. It grew more defined from the background and gained a more noticeable shine. Before Edd could say anything, the aura detached itself from him and started to solidify into a figure. First, a head, sprouting two horns from it. Then two large, bulky arms and legs emerged from the manifested torso. The semi-tangible being floated behind the farm boy for another moment before it completed its metamorphosis.

Edd viewed the towering being that stood behind Rolf with awe. The Stand—Rolf called it Amarillo Sky, didn't he?—had two large, branch-like horns emerging from its head. A helmet-like shell that resembled a towering tree covered its head and left nearly all of its facial features in darkness, save for a pair of ghastly purple orbs. Its torso appeared to be separated at the midsection, with many long, thick root-like tendrils emerging from the chest connecting it with the waist.

Its legs appeared to be large yet thin boulders, ending with feet resembling that of hooves the size of tree trunks. Its upper arms were of thick branches, but its' forearms were that of large boulders resembling its legs, with five bulky fingers composed out wood and stone.

The minotaur-esque Stand hovered behind the prideful Rolf, who had gently stroked his avatar much like how a cat owner would dote on their own pet. He said, "Ed-boy, let Rolf introduce you to Amarillo Sky, the Son of the Shephard's Stand."

Edd's lips formed quiet words, "Hallucinogens."

"Hmm?"

Speaking in a louder tone, he said, "The arrowhead is coated in hallucinogens. I'm delirious, I must be seeing things."

Rolf's tone was split evenly between annoyance and amusement, "No paranormal-denying Ed-boy you're not hallucinating. You're truly seeing Rolf's Stand, and if you can see Amarillo Sky, then you must have gained a Stand of your own."

"Really?"

"Try willing it to existence. It's as simple as willing your hands to grip a pencil." advised Rolf. Edd nodded and held his right hand out before he paused, "Erm, question."

"Yes?"

"Can I dictate what my Stand look like? Or is it already preordained?"

"Rolf's not quite sure Double-D Ed-boy. A Stand is a reflection of your psyche, so it can change as you experience your days of life. However, it is a manifestation of your soul, after all, maybe you could control its' appearance somewhat."

Edd nodded uncertainly and returned to holding his hand out. He tried forcing his Stand out, like how he would push his frame to its limit whenever needed. He felt an aura draping over him and recognized it as the light that had covered Rolf whenever he summoned his Amarillo Sky. Edd focused more intently and forced the aura into a physical form. He had no idea what his Stand would even look like, he just wanted to give it a clear shape rather than leaving it as an unidentifiable blob of life draped over him.

Obeying his wishes, the aura jumped off of his body and started to gather itself in his hand. Feeling the Stand finally materializing itself, warm against the skin of his palm, Edd cracked his eyes open and saw it manifested as a crimson book in his hands, with golden corners and a title emblazoned on its cover.

 **Magnum Opus.**

That's it? Edd couldn't help but frown and felt disappointed.

"Ed-boy? Why is your face long like Papa's leg hairs on a stressful day?"

"Erm, nothing. I just figured my Stand would look humanoid at least." Edd said hastily. Rolf guffawed heartily.

"Oh ho ho, foolish Ed-boy!" Rolf chortled, "Haven't you heard even an inkling of what Rolf said about Stands?"

"I did!" Edd protested instinctively, "If they're personifications of our souls, shouldn't they look humanoid at least?"

"The appearances of Stands doesn't have to be humanoid! Foolhardy Ed-boy just answered his question! The human soul is as varied as colors of the light, so Stands can look like anything!" Rolf answered in between bouts of chuckling.

"Oh," Edd went silent, and suddenly felt embarrassment flooding into his cheeks. He glanced at the book Stand in his hands and asked, "So what can my Stand do?"

"That, Rolf afraid, you will have to discover on your own."

Edd nodded and willed his Stand to disappear, feeling empty space now once again occupying his hand. He dropped his arms to his side and spoke, "Well, thank you Rolf, for telling me the enigma behind the occurrence in your farmyard. If you don't mind, I will be taking my leave now."

The boy strode towards the front door of the house and fastened his hand around the doorknob, only for Rolf to speak up, "Stay please one more moment!"

"Nn?" he turned back curiously, and saw Rolf just behind him with the Stand arrow in his hands, held out towards him.

"Rolf wishes for you to closely examine his family treasure." Rolf said, "He wants to know how his heirloom can impart Stands upon living being from a more, how do you say it, scientific standpoint?"

Edd grasped the thin object in his hands and appraised it carefully, "I could examine the makeup of the metal composing the arrowhead, and perhaps disassemble particles of the metal at a molecular level, but why do you want me to analyze the arrow? It's common knowledge that you have an aversion to science and, erm pardon my rudeness, logic in general."

"If Rolf is allowed to be perfectly frank, he still do," Rolf started, "he just wanted to know what is it about the arrow that's causing people and animals to develop their own Stand, and perhaps suppress that attribute so unwanted Stand users wouldn't be created needlessly."

Edd stared at the arrow in his grip carefully, "I'll try my best, but I can't guarantee I'll be capable of providing you with all the answers you're looking for, or if it is possible to prevent the arrow from catalyzing Stands. Goodbye."

He placed one foot on the doorstep—

"Wait, Double-D Ed-boy!"

Clumsily whirling around to give Rolf his attention, Edd suddenly felt his upper body tipping backward and gravity re-establishing its hold on his body, dragging him down to the ground and making him land on his backside. Rolf winced slightly at the display, "Apologies."

"N—No harm done," gasped out Edd. He daintily pushed himself off the ground and winced slightly at his sore behind. He turned his attention towards Rolf, "What do you want to say, Rolf?"

"You can still tell the other two Ed-boys about the arrow and about Stands if it strikes your fancy. However, it is your responsibility that you ensure they won't let their tongues slip for unsavory ears to hear. Rolf shudders to imagine what would happen if the public or even the government knows about Stands and their capabilities." Rolf spoke with an authoritative tone.

Edd gulped at the possibility and said, "I think it's best to play it safe and keep this secret from Ed and Eddy for now. They don't need to know about Stands just yet."

Rolf nodded, "Very well then, Ed-boy. Rolf will trust your intuition. Goodbye, for now, Double-D Ed-boy."

"Farewell."

With a wave of his hand, Edd walked back to his house with Rolf's arrow in his hands, while Rolf himself quietly retreated back to his house. Once they both parted ways, Eddy and Ed hurried from Eddy's own house to regroup with Edd.

"Hi, Double-D!"

"Yo Sockhead! We just got an idea!"

"Hello, Ed and Eddy. An idea for a scam, you mean?"

Eddy shook his head, "Nah, don't feel like it. Too unmotivated to come up with one, so we thought about a movie night. It's been ages since we got together to chill over snacks and movies."

"Oh. That does sound appealing, but I'm afraid I'm preoccupied. Rolf had tasked me with researching the nature of his heirloom, so I can't attend our movie night right now."

Eddy dropped his smile, "Are you kidding me? I swear you'll let anyone walk all over you nowadays."

"I—It's not like that..." Edd murmured shyly. Eddy waved it off, "Yeah whatever. If you're really that stubborn in working on whatever Rolf made you do, just bring it to movie night and me and Ed will just enjoy the movie alone."

Edd sighed, "You won't leave me alone unless I'm physically there at the very least, right?"

"Yeup," Eddy popped the 'P' and glanced at the arrow in Edd's hands, "Anyways, is that oversized toothpick the thing Rolf wantcha to look into?"

"Yes."

"Cool," Ed smiled, "Does it give us cool, supernatural spirit superpowers?"

"Ed, how could you—" Edd swiftly silenced himself. No talking about Stands, but the fact Ed had come so close to discovering the purpose of the arrow scared him a little bit. It was like he had been eavesdropping on his conversation with Rolf.

Edd shook his head slightly, "I will attend your movie night, Eddy. Can't guarantee if I'll enjoy the movie, but I will bring some food over, and perhaps provide some movies?"

"Make the snacks potato chips and popcorn, and bring over some good action movies like 'Metamorphers' and 'Phantombusters' instead of dumb nature documentaries and we have a deal."

* * *

Nighttime fell, and the street lights flickered on. Edd exited his house and double checked the locked door. In his arm were a bag, filled with five bags of chips of various flavors and three bags of microwavable popcorn, and in his other arm was a notebook, the arrow and a pencil. He walked across Rethink Avenue and walked up to Eddy's front door, firmly rapping the wooden door three times and waited patiently for a response as the cricket chirped around him.

The door creaked open, and Ed peeked outwards, gaze falling onto the bag of assorted movie snacks, "Oh boy, food!"

"Please let me in, Ed." Edd requested kindly. Ed nodded excitedly and creaked the door open further to allow Edd access. The intellectual boy gently handed the taller boy the bag filled with snacks and told him not to eat it prematurely. Ed quickly shuffled down towards the direction of Eddy's living room.

Edd quietly headed towards the living room, delicately readjusting the arrow over the notebook as he entered the doorway of the living room. Eddy smiled once he saw Edd entered the room, "Glad you came, Double-D."

"Pleasure." Edd murmured. The boy scanned the room for a semi-well-lighted area and resigned himself to the table, lined next to the doorway. He gently switched on a table light and carefully arranged the arrow in front of the notebook, and started to scribble out an entry.

 **Rolf's Stand Arrow**

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **Well, looked like Edd got himself a Stand! Lucky him, right? You probably thought he didn't have the strength to develop one, but he's stronger than you think if you look closely at him during the show. Edd's Stand will have a name eventually, but it's not until next chapter, so wait a little bit.**

 **Next chapter also has Eddy and Ed developing their own Stands, so watch out for that!**

 **Until next time, bye bye!**


	3. Curiosity Hurts

**Chapter 2: Curiosity Hurts**

Edd woke up to the sensation of wetness on his right cheek and of dryness in his mouth. He motioned out smacking his lips and frowned. Why was his mouth so dry? And his arm so wet?

He opened his sleepy eyes and then it hit him. He opened his eyes. Edd was sleeping. And _he was drooling_.

"Aaaaagh!"

Eddy's head flung out of the empty bag of cheese-flavored chips and nonsensically babbled, "My gold stash is in Atlantis!"

Edd scrambled madly, semi-unsure of what he was looking for until his (thankfully) dry arm brushed up against the notebook, he suddenly paused. But his germy, slobber-covered arm comes first!

He carefully rushed to the closest bathroom and obsessively washed the saliva off of his arm, making sure he rubbed water into the crevice of his elbow and everywhere shoulder down until his skin didn't feel slimy anymore. The boy queasily rubbed his forearms; he need to spend an extra fifteen minute in the bath for this.

He left the bathroom and yawned instinctively. He gave his wristwatch a sidelong glance and saw it read **_6:36 a.m._**

Edd frowned; he woke up early then. His belly lets out a tiny gurgle, and he figured breakfast would be his first course of action. And maybe return to researching and documenting the arrow while he's at it.

He returned back to the living room to find Eddy licking his chip covered fingers and wiping his sticky hands on the sofa, making Edd cringe in disgust. Goodness, can't he practice some level of hygiene?

Eddy waved his hand at the queasy boy, "S'up, Sockhead? Feeling up for some breakfast?"

"I was thinking about cooking up some breakfast myself," Edd admitted genuinely. He turned back around, "Perhaps I should make pancakes?"

Eddy shrugged, "Anything's good to me. I'll wake Ed up."

Edd nodded and left the living room, leaving his two friends behind. Eddy turned to his right and gently shook the green lump back and forth. Ed turned face first and burped right into Eddy's face, turning his face into a disgusting shade of vomit green. He never smelled Ed's burp before and never will, now that he had gotten a whiff of it. It smelled like stomach acid, expired gravy, moldy cheese and most recently, digested potato chips.

Eddy felt his half-digested movie snacks started to make a rapid return to the surface world and quickly gulped down his movie food.

"Ed, wake up, Double-D's cookin' up some breakfast. Wake up unless you want me to hog the food all to myself." Eddy threatened. Ed's eyes flung open, "No! Ed want food! Wilfred doesn't eat breakfast food!"

Eddy shook his head and stood up, rubbing at his drowsy eyes before Ed said, "Look, Double-D left his pointy stick on the table."

Pointy stick? Eddy followed Ed's finger and his gaze fell on the arrow laid on the desk, looking strangely tantalizing for some reason. Eddy approached the desk and carefully grabbed the arrow from its resting place. Ed toddled up behind him and asked, "Is it magical?"

Ordinarily, he would have said something along the lines of, 'that's stupid' and 'you're stupid', but the arrow in his hand did feel alien. And not in a subtle, faint way either. It felt alien and different so clearly, yet he just couldn't tell what about it was unnatural. Eddy ran the pad of his thumb over the edge, frowning to himself as he fiddled with the treasured item. Suddenly, a brilliant pain flared across his fingers, and he dropped the arrow in shock.

"Yeouch!"

"What?"

"I cut my finger!" Eddy raised his thumb, tone sounding like a child complaining to their parents of an injury.

Ed gained a puzzled expression, "You did? But it doesn't look cut to me."

"Anything looks all sunshine and rainbows to you, Lumpy!" Eddy shouted and raised his thumb towards the taller boy, "Now look at this and tell me with a straight face this doesn't look like a sliced finger!"

"It doesn't look like a sliced finger," Ed said honestly. Eddy raised a disbelieving eyebrow; not even Ed could be this stubborn when it came to injury. The short boy raised his thumb to his eye level and examined it, finding much to his surprise his finger wasn't cut after all. It was completely healed and intact, without even a single smudge of blood present.

Eddy goggled at his thumb in awe; was he imagining things? But the pain was so vivid, so lucid to the point Eddy couldn't believe that he imagined the pain. But if he really cut his finger, why did it heal so quickly? He had sustained more than a lifetime of injuries of varying degree—not that he's willing to say that to anyone—so he knew that it doesn't take half a minute for even a thin cut to heal instantly without a trace left behind.

Ed crouched down to Eddy's feet and gently grabbed the green arrow, poking his index fingertips on the tip of the arrowhead and giggling at the sensation, "Hey, it tickles."

"Be careful with that thing, Ed," Eddy warned. Ed shook a dismissive hand towards Eddy's direction and returned to fidgeting with the arrowhead, running his thumb over the edge and, much to Eddy's disgust, violating it by dipping the sharp object into his mouth and running his tongue over it like a lollipop. Eddy shuddered once he popped the arrow from his mouth; if Edd had walked in at that very moment, he might as well faint on the spot, seeing his research material being befouled by Ed's orifice.

Ed spat the arrow out and into his open hands, returning to poking his finger with the arrow and scratching his wrist with the tip, practically asking to get his ulnar slit. Ed suddenly repositioned the arrow above his hand and aimed right at one of his palm lines, before slicing a small cut across his open hand, pouring out sizable drops of blood. Eddy felt a scream emerging from his throat and quickly forced it back down his trachea, changing it to a violent cough instead. He quickly snatched the arrow from Ed's hold and slapped the lump multiple times across the face, "WHAT THE HECK, LUMPY?! ARE YOU SUICIDAL?! WHY WERE YOU CUTTING YOURSELF?!"

"I dunno!" Ed cried, tone genuinely bewildered as he rubbed his cheeks, "The pointy stick, it was like it was telling me to cut myself!"

Eddy eyed Ed like he was insane and pulled his hand towards his line of sight, muttering, "Pointy stick telling him to—the guy's getting more delusional everyday I swear. Better patch up the cut before Sockhead flips out and have himself a hernia when he sees it."

"Eddy?"

"What?" Eddy snapped irritably.

"You don't need to, uh, fix my hand anymore. 'Cause—"

"I don't care if you have a healing factor, Ed," Eddy hissed, "I'm patching it up so Double-D doesn't freak out and ask way too many questions with way too many nerd words, and oh your hand's already healed."

Beat.

 _Already healed?!_

"Oh my god, it's just like when I cut myself!" Eddy shouted and inspect Ed's hand, seeing a definite lack of blood and a noticeable lack of a cut wound. He experimentally prodded at the place where the wound should be, poking, pressing and scratching at the palm in an attempt to provoke a reaction of some kind.

Nothing. All Ed signaled to him was giggles devoid of discomfort of any kind. The wound really did heal that fast.

Eddy glanced at the arrow in his hand, feeling a certain noticeable lack of an alien aura. It actually felt like a semi-ordinary arrow, and it frightened him as he held it in his hand and stared at it. Eddy nervously said, "Let's just clean this thing and never touch it again, agree?"

Ed shrugged, but murmured sullenly to himself, "I wanna keep the pointy stick though..."

Eddy quickly hurried to the bathroom and switched the faucet on, rinsing the arrow under the running water. He doesn't even bother washing the tip with soap or rubbed it left and right mercilessly with sanitizer of some kind, given it was in Ed's mouth. He just wanted to be away from it as soon as he can, frightened with how unnatural it was. Healing wounds it caused instantaneously? A telltale sign of something paranormal. And after the arrow had pierced him, he suddenly felt like he had developed some kind of strange, esoteric power. Maybe Ed felt that sensation too; he cut himself with the arrow like him after all.

Eddy switched the faucet off and flicked the arrow multiple times, shooting small flecks of water off the arrowhead. He wiped the object on his yellow shirt and made his way out of the bathroom, entering the living room to find it empty of Ed. Eddy glanced at the table where Edd had worked at during movie night to find it was also devoid of the notebook he wrote in.

Probably in the dining room eating breakfast without him then.

Eddy quickly hurried towards the kitchen and sure enough, the other two Eds were already seated at the table, munching on pancakes and Chunky Puffs. Eddy stepped towards the circular table and Edd turned his head towards him, smiling slightly as he approached the duo.

"Oh, hello Eddy." Edd smiled, but then dropped it as he spotted Rolf's arrow in his hand, "Ah, I've been...wondering where it has been. Why were you—"

"Cleaning it and let's just put it at that," Eddy answered bluntly, handing the taller boy the arrow as he seated himself onto a third chair, pouring milk into a pre-prepared bowl of Chunky Puffs.

Edd silently scribbled on another page next to the page he wrote during movie night, and Eddy peeked at the notebook in interest, finding two or three lines crossed out with red ink and a professional sketch of the arrow drawn to the side. Eddy lost interest rather quickly, however, and let his gaze wander around the table, falling upon a plate of pancakes, the box of Chunky Puffs, a small plate of sausages, and a crimson book with Latin or whatever on the cover.

Eddy idly prodded the bowl of Chunky Puffs in front of him and scooped a spoonful into his mouth. Ed wiped his mouth with a fresh piece of butter toast and spoke up, "Cool book you have there, Double-D! Can I see it?"

A few seconds passed and the table remained relatively peaceful until Edd finally processed Ed's word. In shock, Edd performed an excellent spit-take right into Eddy's face, provoking a priceless expression from both parties involved. Ed merely sat there and look mildly curious at the event that had unfolded in front of him.

"Ed!"

"Yes, Double-D?"

"You saw this book?!"

"Yes!"

"You, saw my Stand—" Edd suddenly slapped his mouth, and Eddy heard exactly what he said. Not good, this went from zero to hundred too fast for Edd.

"Sockhead, it's just a book, why are you flippin' out like you saw the Ebola virus or something? And the heck's a Stand?"

Edd's eyes flicked around, mind shooting towards any possible excuse he could have. Eddy impatiently tapped the floor and a visible golden aura started to develop around him.

"I want answers~, Double-D!" Eddy said in a mock sing-songy voice, golden aura growing increasingly chaotic.

"Okay!" Edd cried, "You and Ed have a Stand!"

"Why did you say that like I'm supposed to know what that means?"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Ed's hand shot into the air like he was in school and said, "A Stand is a magical man or thing made by your spirit and it'll look like anything!"

"Ed, I'm talking to Double-D, nobody asked you!"

"He's, right actually," Edd said tremulously, still inwardly debating if he should reveal the secret of Stands to his two friends.

"Eh?" Eddy uttered. Edd groaned, reluctantly coming to a decision, "Eddy, a Stand is an avatar of your soul, generated by your psyche that has some form of supernatural abilities."

"In English?"

"In other words, a spiritual vanguard, or guardian with superpowers."

"And me and Ed have one of these, Stand thingies, right?"

"Yes."

"How should I know if you're telling the truth?"

"Try to will your mind into manifesting your Stand."

Eddy glanced at his hands and contemplated if Edd was telling the truth. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he experimentally willed his Stand to manifest. The aura leaped behind him and started to shape itself into a human form, with sand-colored skin, a platinum trench coat over a silver waistcoat and a golden long-sleeved dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to its' elbows, allowing the Eds to see golden markings all over its well-built arms and hands. A golden mask covered the entirety of the upper half of its head that left only its orange eyes visible and a golden boater hat with a silver band sat snugly upon its head.

Eddy viewed his Stand with awe and asked, "So, I'm not hallucinating or anything, this is my Stand thing?"

"Trust me, I had asked the same thing when Rolf awakened my Stand." Edd remarked dryly, "No you're not delirious, the being standing behind you is truly your Stand, you must have activated it when you had been toying with Rolf's arrow."

"So it was his arrow, huh. The guy has some seriously freaky objects with freakier customs." Eddy said, mildly bemused. Edd questioned, "Ed cut himself with the arrow too, right?"

"Ye~up." Eddy confirmed with a nod of his head.

"Ed, can you conjure your Stand for me please?"

"Oh boy!" A wide, giddy grin spread across Ed's face as a greyish-green glow started to shifted itself into Ed's Stand. Eddy and Edd however, suddenly felt a faint mix of nostalgia and fear once they saw the complete form of Ed's Stand, which features a grey muscular figure with laurel green armor pieces all over its body, with multiple cables from its neck connecting with its chest and lower jaw. The most familiar part about it, however, was the helmet resembling Edzilla's head, covering the Stand's neck with the opening revealing its face resembling the jaws of the faux-monster, golden horn-like protrusions that placed itself on either side of its jaws like mandibles and red robot-like eyepieces on the helmet's forehead, with its actual eyes being bright green like its user.

"Huh, looks like Edzilla." Eddy whistled, "Whatcha gonna call yer Stand, Lumpy?"

"Monster Mash!" Ed shouted instinctively. Edd looked taken-aback, "N—Name?"

"Uh, yeah?" Eddy scoffed slightly, "It's gonna be awkward calling each other's Stands, 'Ed's Stand' and, 'Double-D's Stands' and things like that. Doesn't Rolf named his Stand?"

"Since when did I told you Rolf have his own Stand?"

"Reasonable conclusion," Eddy answered easily, "If you have your own Stand and you have the arrow, and we get Stands after we messed around with Rolf's arrow, then it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to believe Rolfy Boy got a Stand himself. It's his family arrow after all."

"Ah. I believe Rolf does name his Stand Amarillo Sky, but I haven't really christened my Stand with a name yet."

"Lack of imagination? How about we come up with a name right now? What do you think about, uh, Book of Days?"

"Too simple."

"My Little Red Book?"

"Too childish."

"Picture Book?"

"Too misleading."

"What about Smart Went Crazy?"

"Why do I felt it's so wrong, yet so right? And so offensive at the same time..." Edd grumbled under his breath.

"We're calling it Smart Went Crazy then." Eddy smiled, "And I'll name my Stand Smooth Criminal."

"We'll need to consult with Rolf." Edd said.

"Why?"

"Because now that you two developed Stands, we need to discuss the possibilities of what may happen in the future, and to caution you two about the dangers of leaking the secret of Stands to the public."

"So we're going right now, or..."

Edd sighed and dismissed Smart Went Crazy, "We'll go later in the day so we have some free time for recreation."

Eddy smiled, "Got it."

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **Hello! Here's chapter 3 of the batch! Chapter 4's gonna feature some Stand discussions and training, and probably some Eds shenanigans or whatever. Chapter 5's gonna get another Cul-de-Sac kid turned to a Stand User, so watch out for that. Also, sorry if you feel a little uncomfortable about the Ed cutting himself deliberately with the Stand Arrow, but I guess it's a little too late for that. Also sorry if the last half of the chapter feels a little exposition-y and wordy, I'll try and make up for it next chapter.**

 **Also if you're curious, here's the Stand Parameters of the Eds and Rolf's Stands.**

 **Smooth Criminal (Eddy McGee's Close-range Stand):  
 _Destructive Power: A+  
_ _Durability: A+  
_ _Range: A-  
_ _Speed: B+  
_ _Precision: D+  
_ _Development Potential: B+_**

 **Smart Went Crazy (Edd Crawford's Range-irrelevant Stand):  
** ** _Destructive Power: E  
_ _Durability: A+  
_ _Range: E  
_ _Speed: E  
_ _Precision: E  
_ _Development Potential: A+_** **  
**

 **Monster Mash (Ed Christensen's Close-range Stand):  
** ** _Destructive Power: A-  
_ _Durability: A-  
_ _Range: C-  
_ _Speed: C+  
_ _Precision: B  
_ _Development Potential: B-_**

 **Amarillo Sky (Rolf Berg's Close-range Stand):  
** ** _Destructive Power: B+  
_ _Durability: B-  
_ _Range: D+  
_ _Speed: B-  
_ _Precision: B-  
_ _Development Potential: C+_** **  
**

 **So what do you think? Is it realistic? Tell me what you think with a review or PM! Until next time, bye bye!**


	4. Do's and Don'ts

**Yo there, this is a Q-n-A section, for the questions in the reviews!**

 **combativeThinker — Gee thanks! Yeah, I'm kinda holding it off until more, non-cul-de-sac Stand users crop up to the cul-de-sac, so just wait until the more JoJo-ish aspects crop up. Yeah, I'll address Gravity later in the chapter, so don't worry.**

 **— Well, I'm planning the plot to be like a mix of Stardust Crusaders, Diamond is Unbreakable and Vento Aureo, so who knows? I haven't plan the villain out yet, so we'll see about that.**

 **ThatOneGuyUpstairs — You brought up a good question, so let me answer that. I think Stands created the arrow only transfer to family members with enough fighting spirit or passion, so that's why Koichi and Ken and all those other Stand users created by the arrow doesn't have their family Stand users too. My reason why Holy and Josuke got ill from the arrow because they both didn't have the willpower to control it at the tine and because DIO had something to do with it, that's how I see it anyways. And I'll consider having Eddy's Brother being a Stand User too, dude looks like he has enough fighting spirit to control a Stand.**

 **Chapter 3: Dos & Don'ts**

"Rolf...expected the Ed-boys to discover the arrow and develop their Stands, but not this soon! And just in a single day after he loaned the sagacious Ed-boy the arrow too!"

It was an early afternoon. The sun was high in the sky and the clouds were sparse and thin, giving the sky a dusty blue color with splashes of white. A pleasant day through and through and the children of the neighborhood took advantage of it, frolicking outside and enjoying the midday sun. The Eds decided now would be the right time to consult with Rolf and hurried towards his home, where Rolf had allowed them in after Ed and Eddy had revealed they too gained a Stand, provided they show him their Stands, which they did, needless to say.

Currently, Ed and Eddy had finished explaining how they toyed with Rolf's Stand Arrow—with Ed smartly replacing the bit about him sticking the arrowhead into his mouth with him using it as a backscratcher instead, though Edd still looked disgusted regardless and Rolf remaining relatively ambivalent.

"Apologies, I should have brought the arrow away with me when I made breakfast for us all." Edd apologized shamefully. Rolf merely waved his apology away.

"Nothing to be remorseful about, Double-D Ed-boy! As Rolf said, he had anticipated the two-eyebrows-as-one and neck-and-head-as-one Ed-boys gaining their own Stands, he simply never knew it would happen as soon as the dawn of the next day."

"So what's the deal with the crazy arrow anyways?" Eddy questioned, arms folded.

"That is what we're trying to solve, Eddy." Edd stated, flipping his notebook to its first and latest entry, "From chemical tests I ran before last night, I deduced the metal composing the arrowhead must be extraterrestrial in origin."

"Annnnd?"

"That's simply it! That's all I learned from my experiments! The metal is completely new and unidentified, and because of that, we don't know if the Stand-catalyzing property is either a natural quality inherent to the metal or if it's something due to its origin back in Rolf's home country!" Edd ranted, waving his arms slightly. Rolf looked over Edd's notes as Ed and Eddy carefully untangled the smarter boy's short ramble.

"What did he say?"

"That the metal of the pointy stick came from outer space and Sockhead have no idea if it's because of Rolf's village people or if it can always do that on its own." Eddy explained in a more simplified way, somewhat accustomed to Edd's eloquent vocabulary.

"Ah." Ed nodded in faint understanding. Rolf skimmed over the notebook's words and mulled over the sentences contained inside.

"The arrows are still being made to this day, Rolf thinks." Rolf stated, "Of course, the production is stagnated somewhat, due to most families already have their own arrows and a lack of new families to gift upon new ones, but the creation of arrows and its methods are still preserved. Perhaps if Rolf send a letter inquiring the nature of the ore composing the arrowhead and the finer points of its creation, we can possibly glean an answer from the return response."

"But why should we expect a return response? Even if you're a former resident of the Old Country, you're still too young for them to take you seriously." Edd started, but Rolf chuckled.

"This may come as a surprise, but Rolf's family is an old and highly respected family, so he has some level of clout within the Old Country. Not to mention some of Rolf's old friends owe him a few—how do you say it—favors, so Rolf can fall back on them if he must."

Edd frowned and tapped his upper arm in thought, "Well, if you're that confident in your family's influence, then I suppose we can trust you." Eddy muttered silently from the sidelines, " _It's not like we have any other choices_."

"Excellent, Rolf knows what he must do later. Anyways, Ed-boys, we need to tell you about the possible risks of letting the secrets of Stands slip around our peers, or worse, show the arrow and its properties to them."

"Why?" Eddy questioned, "If we're Stand Users now, shouldn't it be a good idea to tell them about Stands so that they, I dunno, burn us at the stake when they see us with our Stands and think we're practicing witchcraft or something?"

"Honestly Eddy, we're not in Massachusetts during the early 1690s," Edd sighed in annoyance, "and telling them about Stands is a horrible idea. Two possible outcomes that can happen is that the cul-de-sac would come to covet the power of a Stand and come to destroy themselves over their desires. Or, that the cul-de-sac becomes unwelcoming towards our newfound power, rejecting us even more. Our peers, sans Rolf, aren't exactly welcoming of things going against the norm after all. Why do you think we became social pariahs in the first place?"

"Were you always this paranoid and I just noticed it?" Eddy asked rhetorically, eyebrow raised. He sighed, "Fine, we'll keep the Stand thing a secret. 'S not like you'll let it slide when I blab about it to everyone else."

"Perfect." Edd smiled contently, "Anything you wish to add, Rolf?

"Just one more." Rolf raised three fingers and pointed each of them towards the Eds, "You all have discovered your Stands recently, yes?"

A sidelong shrug. Rolf already knew the answer to that question, so why bother?

"So you're currently unfamiliar with the finer points of controlling your newfound power. No matter," Rolf swung his arms out and placed his left arm behind his head, summoning Amarillo Sky.

"Rolf will take it upon himself to be the mentor of the Eds on Stand power then!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, there, Son Goku," Eddy quickly halted his declaration, "what makes you think we need teaching? We managed to get our Stands out and about, so I think we'll just get a handle on things ourselves just fine!"

"But does yellow-garbed Ed-boy know how to properly command your Smooth Criminal to attack? Or does he even know the ability of Smooth Criminal?"

Eddy opened his mouth and froze in the middle of forming a sentence. He just assumed he'll just say, "Smooth Criminal, punch him!" or something like that, but now that Rolf said that question, it appeared there was more to controlling a Stand rather than just verbally command them to act.

"As an experiment, try attacking Rolf with your Stand." Rolf stood there, arms folded with Amarillo Sky still hovering behind him. Eddy hesitated and shouted, "Smooth Criminal, get 'im!" prompting the Stand to burst forward and throw a punch.

 _Ka-ching!_

 ** _ドギューウウン！_**

Smooth Criminal burst forward and threw the first punch, but before Eddy could process anything else he suddenly felt an aching pain in his right arm, as though he had strained it in gym class. Eddy felt his body leaned backward and gave itself to gravity, and would have landed on the floor if he hadn't landed in Ed and Edd's arms instead. He craned his head forward a tiny bit and saw that Amarillo Sky had already repositioned itself at an angle perfect for a counter-attack, standing protectively in front of the Son of the Shepherd.

Eddy struggled to his feet, a stout expression on his face, "What the heck?! You punched my Stand, not me! So why did I got sent flying back?!"

Rolf kept a cool look on his face, though Eddy could see him visibly trying to keep a superior expression from cropping up.

 _Forget Smooth Criminal, if he doesn't explain soon I'll just beat him into the ground himself!_

"Ed-boy, as your Stand is an extension of your very being, it's only natural that whatever happens to your Smooth Criminal it will reflect back to you and vice-versa," Rolf explained, now giving up on controlling his expression and allowed his smug expression to curl his lips. Eddy felt half of his brain filled up instantaneously with anger.

"And on the subject of your Stand's combat prowess, it is absolutely dreadful," Rolf stated, not sugarcoating his words in the slightest and immediately launched into his lecture, "Not only Smooth Criminal is sloppy when it comes to delivering its attack, you also call out your Stand to attack, loudly. Don't do that. It would not only warn your opponents to your plan, it would also easily allow them to telegraph Smooth Criminal's attack and launch an appropriate counter-attack back. This is something we need to improve on."

Eddy's fury started to rise to such dangerous level he started to grind his teeth together at dangerous speed, to the point where even Ed could see white dust flying off his teeth and Edd felt steam literally pouring out of his ears. Edd placed a warning hand on Eddy's shoulders and tried to counsel him, "Now now Eddy, these flaws aren't irreversible. We just need to train with Rolf to make sure your imperfections won't remain."

Eddy gained a somewhat more docile expression, though he still glared icily at the still-smug Rolf, "Whatever."

"Where are we gonna train our super cool new powers, Rolf?" Ed piped up curiously from Eddy's side. Rolf placed a pondering finger on his chin and said, "Well, we can't train in Rolf's farmyard, it would be far too easy for prying eyes to see our activities."

"What about the woods?" Eddy suggested.

Rolf shook his head, "Jonny-the-wood-boy makes daily patrol through the Maze of Greenery far too often for us to safely sustain the secrecy of our matters, and he tends to intervene at the most inopportune of time, so the Maze of Greenery isn't a viable location to train."

Rolf hanged his head down in thought. He scratched his hair thoughtfully for a few moments before his head suddenly rocketed upwards and proclaimed, "By gods, Rolf remembers!"

At the sight of the Eds giving him their attention, he elaborated, "There is a secret training chamber deep within the earth Rolf's house is situated upon. Papa and Nano had built it in order to hone our abilities and train so that we don't grow unfamiliar with our Stands. but recently, it has been gone unused for quite an extended period of time. Rolf believe it's about time to put it to good use once again."

Eddy groaned, "Why do I feel like I'll eventually add a crapton of bruises and broken arms to my list of injuries soon?"

"Because it will happen." Edd stated in a matter-of-factly tone, but quickly recorrected himself, "Sans the broken arms part. That won't happen I believe."

"Why do I feel like it'll happen anyway?"

No answer. Eddy groaned and pushed himself off of his friends' arms and made his way towards the retreating Rolf. Edd and Ed shared an indecipherable expression and followed the two boys towards Rolf's backyard. The blue-haired boy carefully adjusted a leaking tap and it immediately set off both nostalgia and multiple red flags within Edd's mind.

"Wait, this is—!"

Before he could get a chance to finish his warning, the tap trembled violently before coming to a sudden stop and the ground beneath them opened up like some sort of trapdoor. The Eds immediately dropped down towards the depths, with Eddy screaming out loud, "I HATE FALLING DOWN FROM SUPER HIGH PLACES!"

 _ **バーン！**_

A loud thump sound echoed from the dark passageway. Rolf peered downwards at the pit with a mildly amused smile, "Pleasant trip, Ed-boys?!"

"N—No!" a strained voice answered.

Rolf shrugged and called down, "You'll be okay! Mama has packed some healing salves made by her Stand power down there! We will find it eventually!"

"You talk like you don't know where it is!"

"Rolf doesn't know where it is!"

A weak curse can be heard echoing from the bottom of the underground staircase. Rolf took in a deep breath and dove into the dark tunnel like an Olympic swimmer, landing with far more grace than the three Eds, who had been piled up in an unpleasant mess consisting of tangled arms and legs, an assortment of bruises and at least one broken bone somewhere.

The training chamber itself is rather expansive, about the size of the house it's built under and its surrounding property, with a firm dirt floor and stone walls. Black-ish sconces scattered around the walls lit themselves the moment the four boys enter the subterranean room, illuminating their surroundings. Another room can be found in the back, built like a lounge room of sorts with a wooden couch, multiple cupboards in the back, a single table and a few jars placed on said cupboard.

"We haven't even started training and yet we're already victims of literary slapstick," Edd groaned from beneath Ed, arms twitching and going limp.

"I really hate our sucky luck sometimes," Eddy squeaked from the top.

Rolf frowned. The boy walked towards the pile of tangled limbs and started to free the Eds from their self-imprisonment. Oh boy, this is going to take a while.

* * *

Turns out the Eds are deceptively fast learners. At least once they were out of their pile and recovered from their injuries anyways. It was three hours after they had started training and the Eds had picked up on his lessons regarding Stand control rather quickly. Eddy had gotten over his calling out his attacks flaw within the first hour, though he had a tendency to gesture out the start of attacks. No matter, this flaw can be correct easily.

Rolf had also gauged the combat prowess of Eddy's Smooth Criminal. The Stand was acceptably fast with decent strength behind its hits, though due to a lack of finesse on Eddy's part also meant that its attacks were easily telegraph and anticipate ahead of time. Eddy had make up for that fault by being decently inventive, as instead of fully manifesting Smooth Criminal, he only materialize its limbs and used them as secondary source of damage and add more of a punch to his attacks, so it wouldn't be so easy to evade his attacks and

Edd didn't had to underwent the same training due to his Stand being something Rolf called 'a Range-irrelevant Stand', so he simply stood on the sidelines as he view the other three boys' training. Rolf has advised him to meditate with Smart Went Crazy in an attempt to discover its ability. That had failed and Edd merely felt ridiculous sitting in the position Rolf instructed him to, which wasn't really sitting per se, but rather a glorified squatting position where he spread his legs apart and put his hands together while he breathed in and out in a meticulous manner.

That didn't work as intended, so Edd had resigned himself to sitting in the corner, flipping through the Stand book's pages in hopes of finding something written inside that may clue him in to the function of Smart Went Crazy. Though it may be in vain since no matter how much he flipped through the book, it seems to hold a limitless amount of pages because Edd flipped through at least 800 pages and yet it acted like he merely read a fifth of the book, when he had been stuck at that point ever since he started reading it.

Ed, however, had progressed in his training with startling speed that surprised Rolf and his fellow Eds. While he had some difficulty manifesting Monster Mash further than two meters at a time, he maneuvered it with a surprising amount of skill, performed attacks that he shouldn't reasonably know, and to top it all off; he discovered the power of Monster Mash.

Monster Mash's ability is the ability to mash things together.

That's how Ed put it anyways. What he means is that Monster Mash can combine certain traits of items together to create something ridiculous like a slippery rock, a rock-hard balloon, or cold fire. Of course, it could also be taken literally and Ed can physically force objects (and people for that matter) together, as Rolf discovered the hard way when he abruptly found himself with half of his body meshed with the ground, and it took Ed a few minutes to reverse the effects, and Rolf was thankfully found without any side effects afterwards. Ed had apologized profusely afterwards, with Rolf shaking off his apologies regardless of what he said.

In the aftermath of their training, in some sort of sick ironic call-back alluding to his previous comment, Eddy was the only injured person in the entire neighborhood (no I did not stutter even Jimmy was in better shape than him right now), sporting a sprained ankle, a black eye, and one fractured arm in the process of recovery, wrapped up protectively, rubbed with a supernatural salve to the bones and suspended in a sling as a precautionary measure—Eddy personally thought it was overkill; the thing Rolf rubbed into his arm was magical why do they insist on putting it on him.

Meanwhile the most Ed and Rolf got was mild, palm-sized bruises scattered throughout their arms and torso and even they were healing as the day end.

Edd, in the meantime, filled the non-Stand notebook with various notations and footnotes about the arrow, though from the words and the constant scribbling over said notes tells any readers that they were merely his views about the mystical objects rather than anything that would benefit their search about the arrow's nature or about what he learned about the weapon.

After a moment of cradling his broken arm, Eddy spoke up, "What's going to happen next?"

Rolf struggled for an answer, and decided on, "Like he said before, Rolf will send out a letter inquiring the nature of his arrow once night falls. But for the long-term plan, we shall train with your newfound Stands, for Rolf can feel the backhairs of doom already standing upon his skin."

"Why are you talking like the dead will rise and take over the world or something?" Eddy asked, eyebrow hitched.

Rolf leaned in slightly, "This is a rumor that was conceived ever since the Old Country discover the properties of Stands, but according to the elders of his village, there is this unknown force called ** _『_ _Gravity』_** , and it affects all Stand users no matter what."

"What does it do?"

"From what Rolf remembers, **_『_ _Gravity』_** is a force that draws Stand users together, much like how a magnet draws in other magnets together."

"So, this ** _『_ _Gravity』_** ," Edd started, laying the tip of his pen down, "is a supernatural force where Stand users draws in more Stand user to themselves?"

"Essentially," Rolf nodded, "however, like Rolf said, it is nothing more than a rumor, and it could be false information."

"Hmm..." Edd hummed thoughtfully. Eddy piped up, "Now that we're on the subject of Stands, where is that oversize toothpick that can give people superpowers? Haven't seen it since we left 2-D's house."

"I gave the arrow to Ed," Edd stated blandly, not looking up from his work. Ed smiled widely, "Don't worry guys, I put it in my pocket!"

The oaf jammed his arm down his pockets and started to search, groping every inch of his pocket as he does so. Ed frowned and did the same thing to his other pocket, only for his hand to appear at the opening of his pant leg. Instead of panicking, Ed smiled and said, "Cool! There's a portal in my pocket!"

The three other boys went pale. Rolf asked weakly, "Where is Rolf's prized heirloom, attention-span-shorter-than-Victor's-fur Ed-boy?"

Hearing Rolf's scared tone, seeing his fellow Eds tensing up nervously, and feeling the general atmosphere growing more grim, Ed's smile grew more nervous and muttered, "Um, I don't know?"

In a single second, the fragile silence shattered like porceline and a loud clamor overtook the air, prompting Ed to cover his ears as Eddy and Edd started to squabble amongst themselves.

"Why did you gave Ed of all people the arrow?! You should know better!" Eddy howled furiously, jabbing a finger towards the meek sockcapped boy and looking about ready to tackle him on the spot, regardless of his injuries.

"I—I didn't want to give the arrow to you, you might make the same mistake!" Edd reasoned, Eddy retorted, "Well at least I know the difference between left and right!"

"Ed-boys, stop!" Rolf quickly stood between the two boys, "Now is not the right situation to argue like we're at one of Rolf's family reunion! We should be focusing our powers towards retrieving the arrow before it can create any Stand users!"

"You're seriously under reacting to all of this! How can you be so calm?" Eddy asked.

"Would arguing help us find the arrow? All it does is merely delaying our search!" Rolf replied, "We shall search for the arrow posthaste, lest it disappears from us pernamently."

The Eds nodded in determined agreement.

* * *

Within the playgrounds of Rethink Avenue, a small blue sweater wearing boy sat daintily on a light pink picnic cloth.

"Why thank you, Mr. Yum Yum, your fur's looking remarkable today too!" Jimmy Blackwell complimented the stuffed rabbit cordially. The button eyes stared back at him beadily.

"Oh, not there's anything wrong with it any other day of course," Jimmy said patiently. He lifted a teacup filled with fizzy soft drink and sipped it delicately. The stuffed rabbit fell to its side with a gentle squeak, teacup untouched.

"Apologies, Mr. Yum Yum, that Sarah can't be here. She has an emergency that she simply can't ignore," Jimmy said apologetically, keeping the fact that emergency being a small case of the flu to himself.

Jimmy silently sipped the teacup's content and said, "Mr. Yum Yum, I wanna show you an interesting item I found today."

The boy held up an arrow with a minty green arrowhead and grinned childishly, "What do you think? Isn't it gorgeous? The craftsmanship is amazing and the details are excellent! I think I'll keep it as a lucky charm for myself!"

A greenish invisible flame flickered off of Mr. Yum Yum's button eyes. The arrowhead glimmered slightly in the evening daylight with an ominous glow as Jimmy subconsciously points the arrow towards himself.

 ** _ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ…_**

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **Hmm...I wonder who's going to be the next cul-de-sac kid to get their own Stand~**

 **Yeup, you read that right, Jimmy's going to be the next Stand Master the Eds and Rolf encounter soon. You may wonder what it's called, and I'll give you a hint.**

 ** _Trg zr bss bs guvf zreel tb ebhaq pnyyrq yvsr!_**

 **Let's see if you can decipher it~**

 **Oh right, Ed's (official) Stand Parameters.**

 **STAND NAME: Monster Mash**

 **STAND MASTER: Ed Christensen  
** **Destructive Power: A  
Durability: A  
Range: C  
Speed: C  
Precision: B  
Development Potential: B**

 **Ability — Combined Infusion: Monster Mash has the abilities to merge and combine traits of objects and people together, creating things like cold fire, heavy balloons, hot ice, slippery stone or featherlight metals, or it could be taken more literally and Monster Mash can physically merge people and/or objects together. Currently, Monster Mash must violently make contact with the objects Ed wants to mix together, meaning there is a possibility of the desired product may not come out the way he wanted it to be.**


	5. Jimmy on the Carousel Called Life Part 1

**Chapter 4: Jimmy on the Carousel Called Life, Part 1**

"Oh boy, how do I find something that's as thin as a twig?" Eddy mused as he scoured the front yard of Edd's house in search of the missing arrow.

It was literally at the crack of dawn when it happened; the day before, Ed had lost the arrow because Edd was somehow more _stupid_ than what was humanly capable of him and gave Ed the one object that can give people actual superpowers. Despite the situation which involved ' _magic pointy stick that can give people magic powers if it cut them,'_ that's also his family heirloom older than everyone's family combined, Rolf was surprisingly unfazed. When Eddy had asked about it, he was evasive in his answer and ordered everyone to look for the item as soon as the day started. Despite Eddy agreeing to the plan initially, he had his own plans of sleeping in because, you know, spring break and all that.

He never expected Rolf to be so literal, when Rolf _actua_ _lly_ broke into his house (he's going to have a hard time explaining why there's an ax now lodged into his bedroom's wall) simply because he ignored his calls to wake up. Now Eddy, with no other choice, was forced to search the neighborhood all over in the hopes of rediscovering the arrow before someone picked it up and get turned into a Stand user they have to deal with.

"Any luck over there, Burrhead?" Eddy called towards Rolf's front yard.

"Uh, nope! All I found was a flower and this cool looking worm with fuzz all over it!"

Eddy sighed and his eyes returned towards scanning Edd's front yard for the elusive arrow. Eddy grumbled as he combed through the green grass, emanating pure annoyance as he does so.

Smart Eddward Crawford, known to never make a stupid mistake or my name isn't Eddy McGee. Oh, wait! Edd gave Ed the stupid Stand arrow, which can give people psychic powers in the shape of their personal bodyguard! Eddy thought irately to himself, absentmindedly tearing out loose chunks of turf in the process. Honestly, giving Ed the arrow was hands down, Edd's dumbest moment yet. Eddy would be more placated if Edd gave the thing to Jonny, at least the guy will remember where he misplaced the stupid thing, unlike Ed.

Eddy ruffled his hair in agitation. Despite being awakened an hour ago, his head felt as heavy as lead ever since he woke up, and the temptation to give in to unconsciousness and sleep in the middle of the grass was palpable. Every few minutes his eyelids couldn't help but give way and shuttered close, almost falling into a deep sleep until Ed had to walk over and shake him back to consciousness.

The small yellow boy rubbed his sore head, and out of the edge of his vision, Eddy could see Edd turning around a corner of the sidewalk leading to the playground. Eddy asked, "Any luck at the playground?"

"No," Edd shook his head. He rubbed his arm, "If you allow me to be frank, I'm honestly growing more disheartened about the prospect of us recovering the Stand arrow before it can create more Stand users."

"Jeez, I never expect you to give up this quickly; we just started the search for the stupid thing." Eddy stated.

"Rethink Avenue is a small street, and yet we still haven't found the arrow. By now, one of us or Rolf should have rediscovered the arrow." Edd started, "And the prospect of a Stand user being created as we speak is exponentially high right now if someone else has picked up the arrow."

"Maybe it got out to the bigger part of the town?" Eddy suggested half-heartedly.

"That's rather improbable," Edd said, "No one has any plans to leave the neighborhood at afternoon, which is approximately the same time the arrow has left our possessions. So unless it has the ability to miraculously sprout legs along with the ability to catalyze Stands, it'll be more likely to say that one of our peers have stumbled upon the millennia-old artifact when we departed for Rolf's house."

"This is _Rolf's_ stuff, you know? That growing legs stuff is probably more likely that we think."

The creaking of a door could be heard from behind them. Eddy looked back behind him and saw Rolf approaching them from his house. Eddy asked, "Did you found the arrow?"

"Rolf afraid not, short-statured Ed-boy," Rolf shook his head, "the arrow isn't found in the training grounds, the living room, nor the farmyard of his home. Rolf afraid it may have already chosen a candidate to become another Stand user now."

"'Chosen'?" Edd repeated curiously, "It almost sounded like it's sapient in some way, with how you said it."

"In a way, yes." Rolf confirmed, "While it's not quite like a living being, it is, how do you say it, quasi-sentient, and it seeks out and pierces those who are worthy of the power of a Stand."

"So it did move away from the cul-de-sac on its own?" Eddy asked.

"No," Rolf denied shortly, "It's much more likely to say one of our fellows may have stumbled upon Rolf's arrow by accident."

"I told you," Edd said smugly to Eddy. He huffed and folded his arms, "Whatever. So which suckers around here's the most likely to get a Stand?"

"Kevin!" Ed shouted from behind, waving his hands to and fro, "Kevin's the first person we should go to!"

Eddy hissed at the sudden increase in volume and whirled around to Ed, tying his mouth shut as he does so, "Shut up Numbskull! What part of keeping magic powers a secret do you not understand?"

"You're not doing better in keeping our confidential matter confidential too, Eddy," Edd remarked bluntly.

"So we shall question Kevin-boy first about any arrows he has seen, yes?"

The three boys in front of him nodded in agreement. But as they made the short trek towards Kevin's home, Ed swore he could have seen a faint glow of pink and a faint silhouette of a small figure from Jimmy's bedroom window. He shrugged it off, however.

 _I imagine things that weren't there half the time. Maybe it was a trick of a light._

* * *

Jimmy waked up from his peaceful slumber with a relaxed yawn. The pale, buttery yellow light of sunrise gently filtered in through his window and illuminated his somewhat bare bedroom, casting faint shades from the few pieces of furniture that had occupied his room. He gently combed through his semi-ruffled hair and breathed out calmly.

He never had such a relaxing night before. He had a peaceful dream that _didn't_ involve a freak accident that had separated him from his friends, the Eds were relatively acceptable social beings, and it all ended with a strange figure shrouded in a pink and blue glow gently leading him back to the waking world. The less ideal plane of reality.

Jimmy sighed dejectedly. The saying, _'all good things must come to an end'_ didn't exist for no reason, but he hated the fact that it was so true. If only his internal clock just made a bit more time for sleep.

 _But,_ Jimmy thought in an attempt to bolster his mood, _it can happen again. All I need to do is to go to sleep again, and I'll relive that dream again._

Maybe if he's lucky, it'll be something different and more enjoyable than his last dream.

Jimmy smacked his mouth and cringed slightly at the taste of his own saliva. He bounced out of bed and started to walk towards his bathroom to start his day. Going from the greatest sleep in the world right to making his teeth look like the long lost sister of pearls is the greatest thing he could ask for in his opinion.

Jimmy entered his spotless bathroom, switching on the light. Jimmy took his rinse cup and filled it with cool water. Grabbing a tube of toothpaste and squeezing the content out onto the bristle of his toothbrush, he dipped it into the water twice and rinsed his mouth, then got to work on brushing his pearly whites.

Jimmy hummed and scrubbed diligently away, scraping off plaque and unwanted bacteria that had formed while his mind was taking a vacation in dreamland. He happily reminisced back to his dream. Remembering every single detail so vividly as though reality and dreams had swapped place while his eyes were shut, REM sleep has never been so enjoyable in his life.

The end was a little curious though, and it got him thinking. Who was that figure anyway? While the rest of the dream was easily memorable, the memory of how it ended was more difficult to recall. All he remembered was the general idea; everyone had to leave him, saying, "I have somewhere to be," all in unison. The dream world faded out of focus like a picture taken by an antique camera, and everything afterward was just mental images of colorful splotches, moving like a slideshow before his eyes. A childlike figure similar who looked like him was the only distinct thing that he could remember upon waking, and even then it was just a shadowy silhouette with no details defining it whatsoever besides a two-branched jester hat.

Jimmy spat out the white foam and rinsed the remains out of his mouth. He grabbed a paper towel and wiped his face, then tossed it into the wastebasket. Jimmy ventured back into his bedroom with a thoughtful attitude, still contemplating over the dream's ending.

The question jumped into his head; was the figure just a figment of his imagination, or something else? Jimmy couldn't help but shudder when his mind formed the word _ghost_.

 _Please don't let it be_ _ghosts,_ Jimmy silently prayed. He walked towards his closet and retrieved his normal outfit of a blue sweater and white pants, and started to dress for the day. After he got his retainer through the neck of his sweater, he felt ready for whatever random injuries the universe would throw at him. Until his stomach has to make the fact it needed breakfast bad embarrassingly loud. Jimmy blushed and headed downstairs with the goal of making breakfast—probably Chunky Puffs.

Jimmy grabbed a bowl and poured Chunky Puffs into it, and grabbed the empty space where the milk carton is. He blinked in confusion only for it to transform into realization. While his mother would often leave out milk and cereal for him to prepare, she had an early morning shift for the current week and didn't have time to prepare it for him. Sighing when he realized the carton was in the fridge, Jimmy couldn't help but feel lazy; he didn't want to get up and go through the hassle of getting the milk from the fridge and then walk all the way back to his seat—the fridge and table were on the opposite side of the kitchen, for Pete's sake!

"Ugh, I don't wanna stand up and get the milk," Jimmy complained, "can somebody do it instead?"

During his complaint, a pink and blue mist-like aura started to flow from his body, mixing together and separating in patterns and swirls that created colors reminiscent of cotton candy one can get at a carnival. As though it had heard his wishes, the mist flowed from his body and started to converge into a solid shape. Jimmy gasped and inched back farther into his chair, trying to put as much distance as he can in between him and the figure.

The shape finally coalesced into its final shape, and Jimmy couldn't help but feel a mix of intrigue, amaze and fright. It was a small, colorful entity with a large, oversized jester hat with a pink and blue half stitched messily together, and multiple hearts sewed into one half of the hat. Multiple pale amber curls poked out from beneath the hat's white crown-like rim. The being's skin tone was a pale rose in color, with two large, childishly large blue eyes and three lines running down the corner of its lower eyelids. A large peach shawl with a hood, a red ribbon, multiple-sewn in hearts and a zig-zag edge covered the entirety of its torso and arms. It wore puffy blue shorts and parts of its legs were faintly mechanical in nature, puzzling Jimmy slightly if he wasn't so scared.

Ignoring the boy's frighten mood, the being hovered towards the fridge and retrieved a large carton of milk. It turned around and hovered back towards the table, setting down the carton of milk and flickered away in a static of colors. Jimmy stared at the space where the strange jester-like being once occupied, jaws hanging limply from shock.

"Oh no," Jimmy whimpered, "it was ghosts. And why did it have to be so colorful, too?"

Jimmy looked down at his temporarily forgotten bowl of sugary cereal and sat himself down slowly, pouring milk cautiously into the cereal bowl. That ghost touched the milk, so who knows what happened to stuff inside? Acid maybe? For agonizingly corroding him away inside out. Or poison, dooming him to a slow and torturous death.

He dipped the spoon nervously into the bowl and scooped out a pile of Chunky Puffs. Would he dare? What would happen to him? His arms twitched so badly from the anticipation small chunks fell off the silver spoon and fell back into the bowl of slowly bloating cereal. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good bowl of sugar that can help start the day off, regardless of whether the milk was tainted or not, Jimmy shoved the first spoonful into his mouth and chewed delicately, bracing himself for the sudden effects of poison or acid that had supplanted the milk.

To Jimmy's pleasant surprise, the milk was still milk, completely untouched by any impurities from the outside world, and definitely not dirtied by poison. He swallowed the sugary mush and brought another spoonful into his mouth, chewing and swallowing and repeating the cycle over and over again until the cereal bowl was empty of its content.

He brought the bowl to the sink and washed it clean, placing it back to the cupboard where he found it. Jimmy returned back to the table and started to ponder. The ghost, it didn't look like any ghosts he ever saw (then again, he never saw anything supernatural until now). He was imagining something more along the lines of faintly translucent blue bodies, tattered bodies and clothes, hanging chains that cast shivers down one's spine when it drags across the floor, constant moaning of torment and damnation, not a childlike clownish entity that wouldn't look too out of place in one of his and Sarah's favorite fantasy novels.

That ghost looked so familiar too. Small body size and that hat looked strikingly similar to—

No way. The shadowy figure at the end of his dream.

Jimmy's head shot up in recognition. That thing, the thing in his dreams and that ghost who brought him milk must be the same person! He scoped the room for any signs of the ghost. It responded earlier when he wanted milk, maybe if he asks for something else...

Firmly speaking into the empty house, Jimmy called, "I want Mr. Yum Yum."

A faint sound much like a mix of sleigh bells and a chord of a synthesizer echoed through the kitchen room. The same, cotton candy-esque aura shrouded his body for a second before the ghost emerged from his body. Without another word needed, the ghost left the room and departed up the stairs. A few moments later, the entity returned to the kitchen and presented the stuffed rabbit to him.

"...you hold onto it for now," Jimmy uttered to the small being. Obeying his wishes yet once again, the ghost withdrew Mr. Yum Yum into its shawl and hovered in front of the small boy. Jimmy's head was buzzing with questions. _Does it do everything I say? Is it like my servant?_ Jimmy thought curiously but blurted out, "Do you have a name?"

The ghost gave a tiny, noncommittal shrug.

"Oh, I see." Jimmy nodded. He frowned, "You should have a name. It'll be strange calling you 'Ghost' all the time."

Another shrug. Jimmy interpreted it as a 'Sure'.

"Okay then," the boy looked at the spirit's general profile. It was colorful and somewhat florid, with a cotton candy-like color scheme. It also looked like something he would see in a fair or a carnival.

Cotton candy. Colorful. Carnival...

"I think...Carousel would fit you well."

* * *

 **STAND NAME: Carousel**

 **STAND MASTER: Jimmy Blackwell**

 **Destructive Power:** **?  
Durability: ?  
Range: ?  
Speed: ?  
Precision: ?  
Development Potential: ?**

* * *

"So you lost this old family heirloom thing. And you're in serious trouble if your family got wind of that news."

"Yah, yah." Rolf nodded impatiently, "So has Kevin-boy seen it or not?"

Kevin frowned, "Afraid not, man, haven't seen something like that yesterday. You should try asking Jonny; if you lost something around here, he's probably the likeliest dude to pick the thing up."

Rolf frowned, "Very well then. Thank you for your time."

"No problem dude," Kevin said as he retreated back into his house. Rolf shut the doors and sighed; how long will it be until it's lost from their possessions forever? He didn't want to say it, but he's been getting more and more pessimistic about the chances of them recovering the arrow. After all, arrows pick their candidates, and it might be circulating around the cul-de-sac, turning their neighbors into more Stand users in just the 16 hours they last seen it for all he knows.

Rolf heard footsteps behind him and turned around, seeing the Eds with similar downtrodden faces.

"Arrow wasn't with Jonny-boy?" Rolf guessed, already knowing the answer from their expression.

"Nope." Eddy shook his head, "So who's next on the chopping block?"

"What about Nazz?" Edd suggested, "She periodically scours the cul-de-sac for any lost objects and holds onto them if she found any, for all we know, she has the arrow in her possessions right now."

"Good idea!" Ed agreed, "But what if she's another Stand user like us?"

The group paused in their movement. Eddy said, "Didn't Rolfy Boy over here said that the arrow picks people who can be Stand users? So what's the odds that Nazz is another Stand user?"

"It's..." Rolf paused hesitantly, "Unclear. Rolf hasn't seen go-go Nazz-girl often enough to make that judgment call."

Ed suddenly went silent, and his gaze locked onto Jimmy's house, ears faintly twitching to hear sounds nobody else can quite hear. The other three adolescents took note of this but didn't give him any attention. This is, more often than not, standard Ed behavior; he'll just come back to them once enough time has passed.

"I'm gonna ask Jimmy about the arrow, okay?" Ed piped up from behind the group.

Edd mulled over the decision before, "Very well. But do keep the details to yourself, we don't know if he'll take your words to heart or not."

"You seriously don't remember the unicorn incident?" Eddy questioned Edd as Ed left the group. Edd retaliated with, "It's your own fault to take advantage Jimmy's naive mind after everything he's been through."

Ed silently tuned out his fellow Eds' mini-squabble and jogged towards Jimmy's house. He rapped the door firmly with his knuckles, patiently waiting for a response from the inside. Ed pondered about the possibilities of Jimmy becoming a fellow Stand user; he did, once, framed them all in an elaborate scheme to take his revenge on all of them when Eddy gave him a wedgie on Friendship Day. Approaching the Kanker Sisters, forming a deal with them and then leaving from their presence _unscathed_ was completely unprecedented, and definitely costed some fighting spirit to do so.

Ed stood by idly and fidgeted with his jacket pocket, then summoned Monster Mash on a random whim. He still didn't get over the fact he has psychic powers now, and it's even better when it takes the shape of his personal bodyguard. There's someone who can play with him who also shares the same interest as him! Granted, it's mostly because Monster Mash is just an extension of his mind, but hey, why should he care about little details like that?

Faint footsteps echoed out from the house's interior, and a faint call of, "I'll be with you soon!" can be heard by Ed. A moment later, the door gently creaked open, and Jimmy peered outwards.

"Oh, hi there Ed!" Jimmy greeted happily, "Hello there glowing green, muscular armored man floating next to Ed! Are you his friend?"

"Yeah!"

Beat.

"Dot dot dot...sudden realization!" Ed shouted, "You can see Monster Mash?!"

"Your green, floating knight is floating?! Do you have your own ghost too?!"

"Whaaaaat~?!"

Ed gaped in awe, mind still reeling from the fact that Jimmy, somehow, can see his Stand. Jimmy, meanwhile, was shocked beyond belief; so even _Ed_ has a ghost of his own, what's going on today?

Ed scouted the cul-de-sac behind him; Rolf, Eddy, and Edd had already disappeared into Nazz's house, so they didn't hear their brief exchange earlier. He turned towards Jimmy and whispered, "It's a good idea to ask your questions inside your house!"

Jimmy nodded wordlessly and stood back a couple feet. Ed silently withdrew Monster Mash away then delicately entered the smaller boy's house, smelling the delicate tone of citrus and flowers that he had came to associate with the artistic Jimmy, and Edd too to an extent. Jimmy hurried to close the door and lock it twice to ensure no one would butt in at the worst possible time; who knows who else can see the ghosts like him and Ed too?

Ed seated himself on the couch and placed his hands on the table in front of him, while Jimmy grabbed a nearby chair and placed it on the other side of the table. He sat down and asked, "So, do you have a ghost like me too?"

"A ghost? You mean a Stand? Then yeah!" For emphasis, Ed summoned Monster Mash on the seat next to him, "His name is Monster Mash, and I got him yesterday!"

"A, Stand?" Jimmy tilted his head slightly, "What's a Stand?"

"Umm...a Stand is like your mind's superpowers, that's also your bodyguard at the same time? Don't you have one? If you do, then that means you can see other Stands!"

"Oh~! So that's what Carousel is!" Jimmy nodded in realization, "I thought it was a ghost since I first have it~."

"Carousel?"

"It's my ghost—err, Stand! See?" Jimmy concentrated for a few moments, and the air next to him was occupied by his Stand. Ed ooh'ed at Carousel's appearance and reached out to try and touch it, only for him to fall forward and slam his face on the floor, creating an Ed-face shaped impression. Jimmy winced, both in sympathy to Ed and the table. Ed lifted his semi-flattened face from the table and gave Jimmy a smile lined with cartoonishly impossible crooked teeth.

"Your Merry-Go-Round is so cool, Jimmy!"

"It's Carousel, Ed, and you're one to talk! Your Beast Bash is super duper cool! What can he do?" Jimmy asked as he lifted himself from his seat to rush towards the muscular Stand, looking over its arms, body, and head, much to both Ed's and Monster Mash's shared confusion.

"What are you doing? And it's Monster Mash, by the way."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just your Stand look so, intriguing! Do all Stands look like this?"

"Nope, this is my Stand, so it looks different from Eddy's, Edd's and Rolf's Stand."

Jimmy went wide-eyed, "Does everybody else have their own Stands?"

"Nope, just me and my chums and Rolf, I think. And now you!"

Eyes sparkling with excitement, Jimmy gabbled, "I can't wait to show and tell Sarah!"

The boy hurried off his seat and made a dash towards the front door, eager to show Ed's sister Jimmy's newfound power. But in a flash, Ed's arm shot forward and gripped Jimmy's arms firmly, making him freeze in his track.

"Oh, nope, nuh-uh, no no, _no_." Ed shook his head aggressively, "You can't tell baby sister about yours or my Stand!"

"Why not?"

Ed opened his mouth, but froze in the middle of forming his sentence; why can't he tell other people about the arrow and the Stand secret yet?

"Because...it's a secret. Rolf's really into the idea of keeping our secret a secret. Don't really know why; I forgot."

Jimmy's expression became downtrodden, and sighed weakly, "I guess I can't tell her our secret then."

Ed viewed the small boy going back up the flight of stairs. and couldn't help but feel the heavy grip of sympathy wrap around his heart. Before it could drag him down to the ground and lock him in guilt, the memory of why Ed was even in Jimmy's house to begin with surged back into his acorn-sized brain.

"Wait, Jimmy!"

Jimmy paused midway up the stairs and turned to look at Ed, "Yes?"

"You haven't seen a pointy stick with a green and silver looking tip, have you?"

The response came out slow and hesitant, "No, not really. Why do you wanna know?"

"We're looking for it right now so that's why I'm here in the first place." Ed answered simplistically, "But if you didn't see it, then you didn't see it."

The tallest Ed lifted himself off the couch and started to head towards the exit. Jimmy silently stared at the retreating Ed and quickly hurried upstairs back into his room, grabbing the arrow off of his nightstand and peered outside his bedroom window in the process.

Jimmy viewed Ed exiting his home and regrouped with his friends from the safety of his window. Their lips moved, but he could barely hear a thing. Edd and Eddy appeared to be engaged in a heated debate judging by how harsh and annoyed their expression are. Ed's eyes flicked towards Jimmy, and he swiftly hid the arrow behind him. His eyes flicked back towards the group, and Jimmy gave out a sigh of relief; good, he didn't see it.

Jimmy held up the artifact pensively; he should give it back to Rolf, it's the right thing to do, and he shouldn't have even sneak off with it in the first place. On the other hand, it helped him developed his own powers, and he really wanted to show it to Sarah, maybe even give her her own Stand if she wants.

The small boy crouched and sat down, feeling torn like his two decisions were separate entities trying to pull his mind apart. No matter what choice Jimmy makes, there will always be a feeling of regret churning around, either to chastise him for not doing the right thing or whining at him for not showing his closest friend the coolest thing he ever found.

Mind whipping to and fro to come up with a compromise, the small Stand user stood up and started to gnaw on the arrow's tip thoughtlessly, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the wooden floor.

Suddenly, an idea flashed towards the forefront of Jimmy's mind, and he gave a tiny smile. Perfect.

* * *

Ed glanced backward at Jimmy's house. For some reason, he couldn't help but get the feeling that Jimmy wasn't telling the complete truth, with him being rather shifty and the noticeable delays in between his answers. Of course, anyone with an IQ higher than a shovel and two candy bracelets can easily put the two and two together and figure out Jimmy was lying then double back to interrogate him, but alas, Ed was not one of these people.

The other two Eds and Rolf left Nazz's house, muttering rapidly on and on the arrows and probabilities of having another one of their neighbors being a Stand user as they gathered back with Ed.

"I'm telling you guys, somebody probably picked it up and move it out further downtown!" Eddy insisted.

"And I said it before, it's highly improbable!" Edd retaliated immediately, "Nobody could have come in and picked it up; all of the other children in the other neighborhoods live too far away to take the arrow then abscond with it away without at least a single person noticing! So unless one of our other peers secretly have a Stand that can bequeath invisibility, I'd say it is impossible for the arrow to belong to someone else outside of our Rethink Avenue!"

"But then how is the arrow so hard to find then?"

"Ed-boys!" Rolf boomed firmly, "Why are you squabbling so loudly like Gertrude and Bridget arguing over which egg is theirs? Aren't we trying to keep our own matters secret?"

Edd grew sheepish and fidgeted with the cloth of his shirt, "My apologies, Rolf. I suppose I let myself get carried away in our debate. It's just that someone," Edd sent an annoyed stare at Eddy, who stonily glared back, "just doesn't want to give our argument its deserved rest and admit he's being stubborn."

"Pshh," Eddy scoffed, "calling me stubborn is an understatement on par with saying fire burns you, ice is cold and we have magical powers. Besides, you just don't wanna admit you're wrong and I'm right. Lemme guess, you'll say,「You lack more common sense than the typical eukaryotic organism,」right?"

"You lack more common sense than the typical eukaryotic organism." Edd grumbled, "—! You did it again!"

"Don't ask how, I explained it once, I don't feel like explaining it again." Eddy said quickly, "Yo Lumpy! How did the visit with Jimmy went?"

"Mmhm, meh?" Ed gave him a 50/50 gesture, "Jimmy said he didn't have the pointy stick with him. He did showed me something pretty cool though."

Eddy tensed but then relaxed, albeit his shoulders became noticeably rigid. Moron probably forgot what the stupid arrow looked like, Eddy thought grouchily to himself.

"It's the arrow, isn't it?" Edd asked in a resigned tone.

"Nuh-uh, it's this cool looking pink Stand with a funny hat and robo-legs, you should have seen it!"

Rolf flinched backwards, like Ed's words has physically inpacted him somehow. Why didn't Ed-boy made the connection with Jimmy-boy's Stand and the arrow?

Eddy was physically convulsing in anger and disbelief; the clues was practically gift-wrapped and placed on a silver platter right in front of him, why didn't the idiot put the two and two together?!

Edd, to his credit, was taking the news far better than his friends (he wasn't shaking violently nor backing away, that's for sure) though it's mostly because he was shocked at the fact that _Jimmy_ of all people was the person who's been holding onto the arrow all this time—or rather the next person the arrow has chosen to be in the possession of, and he was doubly more surprised that Jimmy had enough fighting spirit to develop his own Stand.

Eddy made violent motions with his hands that resembled choking motion and grounded out, "I wanna swear and beat up Ed really badly but if I do then it'll bump this story from a Fiction T to a Fiction M. We need to get that arrow back from Cottontop before I do just that."

 **ゴゴゴゴゴ…**

Feeling the air growing heavier, Ed awkwardly sidled towards Edd's side and hid his face behind his shirt, mumbling, "I'm sorry," underneath his breath repeatedly, in an attempt to placate his stout friend.

Eddy marched towards Jimmy's front door and took a deep breath. Smooth Criminal appeared to his side and clenched its fist, preparing to render the door in front of its master to splinters.

 ** _Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching!_**

With a few dozens of punches, all aimed at the door, the front door rocketed off of its hinges and shot across the house, somehow managing to shatter in pieces in midair and recreate a copy of itself, perfectly intact laid just adjacent to it.

Eddy glared backwards at the trio behind him, and particularly at Ed, grunting, "If you get the arrow back from the twerp, I'll let you off with a broken arm."

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **Yay, cliffhanger! Well, as promised, here's the first half of the _Jimmy on the Carousel Called Life_ mini-arc! Next half will feature Jimmy's Stand ability being used on Ed and the other three trying to figure out how to combat it. Sorry for the delay in getting this sucker out, I kept getting writer's block whenever I try to get my ass on the chair to write this one. Can't guarantee the next on will come out next week but I guarantee you it'll come out eventually.**

 **See ya next time!**


	6. Jimmy on the Carousel Called Life Part 2

**Chapter 5: Jimmy on the Carousel Called Life, Part 2**

 ** _ドカークラーッカ！_**

Jimmy jumped immediately as the violent sound snapped through the open air. Just adjacent behind him and his backyard fence, a loud sound akin to an explosion echoed loudly throughout the entire cul-de-sac, shaking the trees and disturbing the birds that were nesting in it. Jimmy didn't need to look back over the fence to know who or what had caused that noise; he lived in Rethink Avenue for most of his life with the Eds after all.

The downside, the Eds and Rolf were closer than he had anticipated, if the familiar voices of the quartet floating through the air was any indication. Jimmy couldn't help but wonder why they were so hellbent on recovering the arrow to the point of breaking his home's doors. It's not like it was dangerous or anything, just that it gave strange curious superpowers to people who touched it.

Now that he thought of that sentence, the Eds and Rolf's action made a lot more sense if he tries and look at it from an objective standpoint. If you have a MacGuffin that can bestow powers and abilities to anyone at any given moment and it's gone from your possessions, wouldn't you do anything to get it back? And with everyone having superpowers, things would descend into chaos very quickly. Just because you and your neighbors are all psychics now doesn't mean you're all buddies now, powers could be misused and ideals can conflict.

Jimmy quickly bounded over the next fence and hurried towards the lane as fast as possible, arrow still clutched firmly in his grasp. He could hear the footsteps getting quieter and quieter over distance, and Jimmy swiftly hurried towards the woods, making sure to put as much distance in between him and the Eds as much as possible.

The artistic boy was getting winded, and he managed to find a small patch of clearing mostly devoid of trees and shrubs after a few minutes of running. Jimmy's heart gave a tiny jump as he recognized his surroundings, spotting the overturned dumpster on one end of the clearing and the well-trodden dirt beneath his feet. All clear signs of Peach Creek Jr. High's infamous Pit, where delinquents and bullies of the school often visit the place to settle their quarrels via fisticuffs.

But Jimmy seriously doubts psychical fisticuffs were a common occurrence here.

A shuffle of leaves from behind him alerted Jimmy of the quartet's presence, and he desperately wished that Carousel could stop time. No dice. Oh well, psychical fisticuffs it is then.

Jimmy handed his Stand the arrow and gave him a single command. Carousel immediately zoomed off to Peach Creek Jr. High to fulfill its owner's command, opening the door into the gym just as the Eds and Rolf popped out from the bush, Stands at their beck and call by their side.

"Alrighty Curly-Cue, let's make this short and to the point. _Where's the arrow?_ " Eddy asked in a dangerous tone, fist clenched tightly. Jimmy gulped and tried to steady his voice.

"I don't know," Jimmy uttered, voice quivering regardless. Eddy immediately saw through the lie and he took another step closer.

"Ed could come up with a more convincing lie," Eddy hissed, "You have a Stand. You know where the arrow is. If you didn't know, why did you ran away?"

Dang Eddy's good. Jimmy's hands clench subconsciously and he couldn't help but back away, trying his best to avoid looking directly at the older boys in front of him. This scenario is very familiar, and Jimmy couldn't help but dig through his pocket to find something valuable to give, only for him to stop midway through the motion when he realized there's nothing valuable he can give.

Oh yeah, the arrow.

Jimmy gritted his teeth and called back Carousel as it tried to fulfill its master's order. The Stand materialized by the boy's side, hands empty of the arrow Jimmy entrusted to it and hovering in a defensive stance in front of him, prepared to fight for the small boy.

Eddy stared at Carousel dubiously and scoffed, "This little midget thing is your Stand? I've seen tougher things in cupcakes and animal shelters—!"

 ** _バーバン！_**

In a single moment, Carousel immediately rushed up to Eddy and delivered a double whammy punch combo, knocking him into the overturned dumpster bin and stunning everyone present in the Pit, including Jimmy himself. While its strength were hardly comparable to Smooth Criminal or Amarillo Sky, it had taken everybody present by surprise just by how it can manage to push Eddy back that far.

 _Carousel is that powerful?!_

Jimmy stared in awe at the damage his Stand caused, feeling overwhelmed at the power that he can now control. Eddy shook himself free from the daze but still felt somewhat stunned in general; Eddy couldn't believe somebody as much of a bleeding heart like Jimmy could have that much power at his disposal, yet Edd, who's slightly more self-assured in himself have just has nothing more than a boring book for a Stand. It was almost amusing in a way.

Pushing himself back to his feet, Eddy cracked his neck and knuckles in anticipation for his brawl with Jimmy. He never thought the day would come, but it did. And if Jimmy wants to play without the kid gloves, Eddy will be more than happy to oblige.

"Ka-ching!" Smooth Criminal burst forwards and immediately threw its first punch at Carousel, to no avail. The Stand had already zipped to the left out of Smooth Criminal's range and was floating there tauntingly, smug satisfaction lining its perpetual cat smile.

Eddy growled and dashed to Jimmy, blatantly planning to knock out the frail artist on the spot so to save time fighting what was already becoming an annoying fight. Instantly, Carousel zoomed in front of Jimmy and assumed a defensive position, preparing to deflect any attacks Eddy would throw at him.

Predicting that Carousel would defend its user whenever he would pose even a hint of being a danger through his charge, Eddy swiftly came to a halt and cocked his fist back, summoning Smooth Criminal's arm and threw the Stand's arm—fist and all—around Carousel and straight at the unwitting Jimmy.

 ** _ドンーカ！_**

Jimmy screamed and tried to back away clumsily from the attack to no avail, only for Smooth Criminal's fist to collide against his face, imploding his nose inwards and causing rusty tasting blood to spurt outward like a fountain. While Jimmy was not unfamiliar with nosebleeds or injuries with his face in any way, it was still disorienting for him and it impaired his sense of direction for a few moments, feeling an unpleasant sensation welling up in his abdomen.

Getting as much distance in between him and Eddy as possible, Jimmy stumbled awkwardly to his feet and tried to retreat into the woods so to make enough time for him to come back around with a good plan. Eddy viewed him running off as well as he could with his nosebleed and rushed into the spring trees, only to pirouette back around to angrily questioned Rolf and the other two Eds, "Why didn't you help me?"

"It was, uh, kinda funny to see you get your butt handed to you by Jimmy's Stand?" Ed supplied unhelpfully, smiling awkwardly at the irate Eddy.

"Ed! You know full well that's...partially true." Edd admitted sheepishly himself. Eddy grumbled something obscene under his breath and grabbed Ed's shirt collar, tugging him behind himself only to slowly scour a ditch as he went because Eddy is dragging Ed.

"If you want me to go with you, you just need to ask silly! All aboard the Ed-press!" Ed smiled and started to wind up his legs via tugging on his ear, kicking dirt into the air and building up speed and momentum.

Eddy could only manage an inkling of a thought of regret before Ed finally charged forwards and allowed his legs to raced them off into the direction Jimmy retreated to, making Eddy releasing what could only be a rousing screech made of equal parts anger and surprise.

 _ **ピューウウウン！**_

Watching his two friends zooming off into the woods and out of his sight, Edd could only ponder how much damage and chaos they will cause now that they have psychic powers.

* * *

Ed meteored through the trees and branches, raucous noises consisting of violent snapping of wood and trees mixed in with loud screaming and literal steam whistling could be heard echoing throughout the woods as he barreled through trees. The boy was having so much fun, causing a ridiculous amount of needless destruction left and right; Ed rarely got time to unwind and simply be Ed, more often than not his friends try their best to repress his innate capability of naturally spreading destruction everywhere so that their already rock-bottom reputation among their neighbors wouldn't sink so low to the point people in China can see it. But now that only Eddy's with him, who could care less about what he does as long as he came with him, Ed's all prepped to cause as much unnecessary destruction as he can.

Exact words indeed. While Ed did come with Eddy, Ed had overtaken Eddy's control, meaning that the yellow-clad penny-pincher is now flailing behind him, screaming like a banshee, wishing Ed would stop while the Ed-press charged full steam ahead with its less than mentally capable conductor completely disregarding anything that's not him having fun.

Eddy screeched and squirmed wildly in Ed's grasp, but it only served to swerve him into the path of multiple firm branches, leaving him in a daze. The duo of speeding Eds continued to rush out of Rethink Avenue's woods and into the street, and through his faintly cloudy vision, Eddy could see Jimmy hurrying as fast as he can away from the ever closing charge, nose dribbling blood like a sink tap. The fragile boy rushed into a different woods belonging to a neighborhood Eddy could vaguely recognize, and they charged back into shadows of the other woods.

As they barreled through the trees once more like they did back in Rethink Avenue's trees, Ed's grip fell loose, and Eddy fell back behind while the Ed-press continued to charge ahead, now losing its one and only passenger.

The shorter member of the Eds rolled and tumbled backward through the fallen leaves and dirt, feeling aches and pain flaring throughout points within his body until he finally deaccelerated to a stop, face slammed against the earthy ground.

Eddy could only lay spread-eagle on the ground, motionless for a myriad of reasons. Anger, surprise, pain and a dash of everything else. Eddy felt irritation and anger directed mostly at Ed, thanks to him essentially abandoning him in the middle of some random new locations where both of them only have a faint approximation of the layout. His body laid on the musty ground, barely moving, unwanting of any unnecessary pain flaring up as he slowly recuperated.

Finally, his body has acclimated to the injuries enough for him to stand up without stumbling back down, Eddy glanced around at his new surroundings; it was the woods, though not the woods he knew and frequented. The trees were dark and healthy, and its leaves were thick and blocked out sunlight radiating from above. The ground was flatter and with less grass than the woods back home.

Eddy stared around and tried to remember the route Ed took to get them there. They had taken down the road leading away from their school and took a left on the intersection that had taken them back home if they took a right instead. They went straight ahead until they hit Prodigialis Street, another neighborhood where their other classmates live.

It was quite a ways from their school, and even further away from his own Cul-de-Sac; whenever they would come up with a scam, they rarely extend their services to Prodigialis Street, mostly due to the distance being too long to consistently deliver whatever they were marketing. So they had self-contained their scams to their own neighborhood and its surrounding property.

 _We rarely came over to this stretch of town, that explains why these woods are so unfamiliar,_ Eddy thought pensively, pacing around. He stared around and gave a resigned sigh, "Nowhere else to go. Jimmy rushed here, so I better find him before Ed does and let him off."

Eddy walked off and stared at the trees around him, dragging his feet behind him to draw a line just in case he needed to double back for some reason. Shafts of early noon sunlight filtered down through the occasional crack in the leaves overhead illuminated the greenish-brown ground beneath his feet, exposing—much to his delighted surprise—what appears to be relatively fresh footprints on the soft ground, dotted with wet red blood.

Jackpot. Eddy followed the trail carefully, making sure to keep as quiet of a volume as he could, just in case Jimmy was closer than he thought. As he went along, keeping a close eye ahead, Eddy couldn't help but extend a hand and stroke the trees by his side. The first few trees were normal at first; woody, rough, everything you'd expect from a tree when you touched it. The next tree Eddy brushed up against took him by surprise and—uncertain of whether it was real or not, doubled back and placed his palm on the bark of the last tree.

The tree bark didn't feel right. It was soft and smooth, with a vague velvety texture to it. Eddy scanned closer at the tree bark beneath his hand and noticed it was in a patch-like shape, and that pushing it down on it gave it a mild springiness to it, like a bed or a stuffed animal. It wasn't sewn into the tree, grafted on or glued on by any means, but rather more like the tree itself had a piece of itself transformed into a stuffed toy.

Upon closer examination, Eddy noticed how the patch grew in size, slowly overtaking the tree bark and leaving more fabric and stuffing behind as it grew larger. It was somewhat reminiscent of a zombie virus infection in the 'Hobbling Kadever' movie Eddy and Ed watched a day prior to receiving their Stand, only about a million times less gory and more plushy.

 _Is this his Stand, Carousel's power?_ Puzzled Eddy mentally. The boy stared ahead and much to his shock the trees in front of him also have the cloth patches on them, each with varying levels of transformation. The trees opened up in an arch-like formation ahead, but just beyond them multiple trees had either been completely transmuted or most of the way there.

Eddy wandered closer and noticed it was hunched over unnaturally, bent over and knitted in a way as to form some kind of barrier warding off something. He pressed down, and it bounced his hand back more than it did with the other trees. If he screwed his ears up and listen closely, there's some ragged breathing that belonged to somebody who had run right from their neighborhood to their classmates' neighborhood.

"Smooth Criminal," Eddy whispered, though there was no need for it. What he did next would blow his cover anyway.

 ** _Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching!_**

A multitude of punches thrown themselves straight at the plush tree wall, rocketing at speeds that created an illusion of multiple fists all at once, tore down the wall in just two seconds, flinging pieces of cotton, wood, and cloth everywhere.

Behind the trees, just as Eddy suspected, featured a frightened Jimmy hiding behind Carousel, trembling in anticipation and fear. The trees formed some kind of enclosed circle about as large as a bedroom, with the gaps in between the trees were too small to squeeze through.

Eddy clenched his fists and stated, "Fluffy, I'm givin' ya one last chance here. Tell me where the stinkin' arrow is and I'll let ya off the hook."

"Only when you grow three inches taller!" Jimmy retaliated boldly, growing a brave countenance as Carousel floated in front of him in a defensive stance.

Eddy made a scoffing sound and cracked his neck slightly, preparing to engage in combat. This time he won't underestimate the little pygmy thing that's called Jimmy's Stand. And now that Jimmy poked fun at his height, Eddy'll be more than happy to give Jimmy more than just bruises and broken bones. The two circled around the center of their makeshift arena like predatory wolves, and they both thought a single phrase that practically echoed throughout the still woods.

Open the game.

* * *

 **STAND NAME: Carousel**

 **STAND MASTER: Jimmy Blackwell**

 **Destructive Power:** **C+  
Durability: B+  
Range: A-  
Speed: C  
Precision: B-  
Development Potential: B+**

 **Ability: ?**

* * *

 **"Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching!"** Smooth Criminal immediately jumped into the offensive, throwing a short rush attack at Carousel. The jester-like Stand nimbly bounced back as Jimmy carefully distanced himself from both Eddy and the center of the conflict. Smooth Criminal quickly closed the distance and threw another combo, and Carousel immediately backed away once again. It would repeat a second time, a third time and finally a fourth time, then Carousel threw in a light punch at its left arm just as Smooth Criminal withdrew its fists.

"I still don't know what Smooth Criminal can do yet…!" Eddy whispered under his breath. He focused on Carousel's movement and noticed whenever Smooth Criminal started an attack rush, it would anticipate and circumnavigate around his attack range. It only attacks once, and even then it didn't put all of its force into it. It was almost like Carousel was triggering something, but Eddy had no idea what it was.

Eddy quickly jump back and commanded Smooth Criminal to be on the defensive, to get a feel of Carousel's destructive force. Immediately when Smooth Criminal stopped attacking, Carousel switched from an evasive tactic to an offensive one, throwing flurries of punches at fairly impressive speeds, though nowhere close to Smooth Criminal's level of speed. The golden-colored Stand easily blocked Carousel's punches with ease, and it barely flinched thanks to Carousel's already meager strength.

A punch managed to slip past Smooth Criminal's defense, however, and it grazed across its cheek, causing a phantom sensation of a fist grazing against Eddy's own cheek to flare up.

 _Crap, that thing is more precise than I expected._ Eddy thought. Suddenly, a curious sensation blossomed across his left forearm; it felt dull, like a soft pillow in a way. It was familiar, and Eddy couldn't help but look down at his arm.

Much to his horror, his forearm was transmuted into a plush, stuffed arm like a ragdoll and it already got his hand and all of his left forearm. It traveled upwards and had already made past his elbow.

His left arm felt limp and lifeless, and he could barely control his hand. Eddy could only pray Carousel's power wasn't permanent and commanded Smooth Criminal to jump back to the offense again.

 **"** **Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching** **Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching!** **!"** Smooth Criminal attacked Carousel with more gusto than before, now that Eddy was currently affected by whatever was Jimmy's Stand ability. But instead of dancing around its attacks like it usually did, Carousel retaliated with its own attack rush, with a curious battle cry.

 **"Roly-Poly Topsy-Turvy Roly-Poly Topsy-Turvy!"**

Conflicting fists met, and it quickly became apparent that Smooth Criminal held the strength and speed advantage, given how Carousel immediately flung backwards as soon as it tried to fight back, with Jimmy launched back into the trees with a scream. Much to Eddy's shock, his right hand started to transform too, and his left arm was completely turned into a ragdoll's stuffed arm.

Now forced to temporarily retreat, Eddy hobbled back away from the dazed Jimmy and tried to put as much distance between him and the blue sweater boy as quick as he can. Now deeper inside the other woods but far away from Jimmy enough for a moment, Eddy wobbled back and forth and sidled against a random tree, trying to recollect his train of thought.

Eddy puffed and panted, and rested a hand on his chest. He realized he didn't get a chance to breathe as much during his mini-battle with Jimmy, thanks to him holding his breath out of adrenaline.

Breath rhythm now stabilizing, Eddy tried to figure out Carousel's capability while he still has a chance to relax.

 _Carousel, Carousel, Carousel, what a stupid name. That Stand can apparently turn something or someone into stuffed toys—that's stupid too. Its speed is meh and its power sucks even more. It really likes dodging though, go figure. But my arms,_ Eddy glanced at both of his arms; his left arm was completely transformed, and his right arm had most of its forearm changed. Much to his pleasant surprise, he saw that the change's progress had slowed to a standstill and that he still retained some form of control over his arm through flops and finger twitches.

 _So the further away I am from Jimmy, the slower my arms get changed? That's good to know. Now that power isn't as overwhelming as I thought._ Eddy thought with a sigh of relief, _I still need to come up with a good plan. Carousel's speed sucks, so I should have an easy time dodging it. I get transformed quicker if Carousel got a hit in on me though, and I have no idea what'd happen if I'm an entire ragdoll, so I should play it safe for now and avoid it. It only happened when it tried to hit me when I'm on the defensive, so maybe it only makes my transformation go by faster when it touches me instead? Alright, I think I have a solid way to take down Jimmy and Carousel, I think. I hope it works—_

"Wowee, the italics look nice."

Eddy made an odd half-screeching noise and swung his foot at the origin of the voice. Unsurprisingly, it was Ed with his trademarked dopey grin. Also unsurprisingly, Eddy's foot connected with his nose even though he already knew it was Ed. To Eddy, it was payback for losing the arrow, ditching him in the middle of an unfamiliar area, and just generally being the instigator of everything that had triggered the situation Eddy's in right now.

"Ed—you—ugh!" Eddy hissed unintelligibly, "You moron, where did you lose yourself?!"

"I went everywhere trying to find my lost pal Eddy, that's you when you lost me."

"You lost me? You ditched me, you big Lummox! I spent the last few minutes fighting against Jimmy's annoying Stand where you wandered off to find your dropped brain cells!" Eddy ranted in annoyance, flailing his limp, stuffed cloth arm to little effect. Ed noticed this with a raised unibrow.

"What happened to your arms?"

"Carousel happened," Eddy answered bluntly, not finding it in him to explain everything about Jimmy's Stand to Ed. He'd probably wouldn't even remember half of it anyways.

"Wuh?"

"Can you come with me, Lumpy? As much as I hate having you probably wreck everything, it's probably gonna be a lot easier with you being my extra dumb muscle and Monster Mash's power thrown in the mix."

"Are we gonna hurt Jimmy?"

"Yup."

Ed became antsy, "But if I do, Sarah's gonna hurt me and then she'll hurt you when Jimmy told her you beat him up."

"Getting the arrow back is a lot more important though. And besides, we'll bounce back around in no time; just give it a few paragraphs."

Ed was still hesitant about Eddy's choice, and he groaned, "Let me put it to you this way, Lumpy. What do you prefer? Getting beaten by Sarah? Or getting beaten by Sarah _and_ her Stand?"

Ed paused. When he put it to him that way, it wasn't that hard of a toss-up. Granted, none of those choices were desirable, but he was at Morton's Fork now; it's either the bad choice or the even worse option, and he'd rather take the bad option.

Giving a reluctant nod, Eddy sighed and gestured Ed to follow him, readjusting his arms so it wouldn't sway around and get in the way. With a heavy sigh, Ed followed suit, a regretful feeling in his stomach.

He could only hope that the foreseeable future wouldn't be so miserable for him.

* * *

Jimmy blinked blearily, his back aching beyond comprehension. What just happened? He remembered Carousel fighting back against Eddy's Stand, only for both of them to flung back like a missile had struck them. It was only Carousel that got hit, so why did he got thrown back too?

Jimmy stood up, only for him to collapse back down. Previously nonexistent wounds screeched with pain and he felt exhaustion pouring over him like a sheet of water. That was the longest fight he had ever been in, and it was a miracle he managed to endure it without any cartoonish injury crippling him for the next few weeks, and he did it without Sarah to boot!

Feeling slightly empowered despite his drained health, he slowly wobbled to his feet. Jimmy took one shaky step forward, and another, until he managed to shuffle along, exiting the enclosure behind him with renewed vigor. Jimmy lightly jogged forwards with a slight spring to his step.

And then Monster Mash's fist collided with his face.

Head practically imploding from the force, Jimmy shot right back into the enclosure and his subsided injuries kicked back full force. Black blurry spot swam in his vision, Jimmy could see Ed's blurry figure and Monster Mash's shape. Right next to Ed, Eddy stood to his full height, his arms comically elongated. Eddy said something, at least Jimmy think he spoke; with his vision now impaired and his ears ringing, it only looked like Eddy moved his mouth in a speaking motion, and even Jimmy was uncertain whether his head was swaying to give an illusion of Eddy speaking or he was just sighing.

Tinny ringing in his ear lightening up somewhat, Jimmy heard the final words of Eddy's sentence, "—pull your punches,"

Pull your punches? Who is he even talking to? Jimmy craned his head forward and his nosebleed poured out blood like a tap. His nose, he was so concentrated on commanding Carousel's moves he had completely disregarded it before, but now it's running so hard it was dyeing his shirt a dirty purple in hue.

Eddy raised an eyebrow, "You got mess up pretty bad there, Fluffy," he commented, "How about we take you home and patch you up? You just need to give us our arrow back, and we'll sweep this entire thing under the carpet. Fair trade, right?"

"Ne—buh!" Jimmy shouted through his blood stuffed nose. Eddy groaned and whistled loudly, giving Ed a pointed look. Ed pulled out an ice cube tray and hurled the frozen cubes at Jimmy's feet. The boy glanced at the ice cubes, faintly bemused.

He felt the scruff of his shirt being pulled, and before he knew it, his body tugged back just as Monster Mash's fist crushed the ice cubes into the ground. A brief glare of green erupted from the gap between the fist and the ground, and the ice cubes were nowhere to be found.

"What was that even for? What did it even do?" Jimmy said silently to himself, only to look up startled as Carousel phased through him with a tickling sensation. Its usual cat smile was inverted into some sort of m-shaped frown, and it only floated a few feet in between the three boys before it took off at a rush straight at Eddy.

Startled, Eddy could only freeze in place as Carousel dropkicked him into the ground, jabbing at all parts of his body with its legs, **"Roly-Poly Topsy Turvy Roly-Poly Topsy-Turvy!"** Legs, stomach, legs, the pink and blue colored Stand doesn't discriminate as it throws as much power as it can behind its attack. Eddy doesn't know even know what he can do, preoccupied with the thought of how ridiculous he looked; he's having his butt handed to him by a colorful clown while his arms could only flop around like a rubber hose-style character's arm. He felt his morale drop and his already low self-esteem reserves plummet down to such a low level, if it was displayed by a number, it would be in the negatives.

He felt his body went limp, and Eddy felt a sensation that can be described as his entire body being hollowed out, flattened and stuffed. For some reason, the world seemed so small when he's looking up before it sunk into the blackness of unconsciousness.

Jimmy stared at the shrunken form of Eddy the now-ragdoll, not knowing what is even normal for him anymore. Stands, ghosts, that arrow...then again, he could argue everything turned bizarre the very moment he came to Peach Creek. And doubly more so when the Eds arrived on the scene.

He tried to stand up, only for every single surface inch of his face to explode in pain. Jimmy stumbled backward onto his rear, fingers curling and squeezing around the air like he was squeezing a stress ball; he didn't dare to twitch a single facial muscle, in fear of more agony created by disturbed nerves and pain receptors.

Jimmy still didn't get the point of ice cubes, but he had guessed it was for a plan Eddy had concocted on particular short notice while he was dazed. A plan that had fallen flat on its face now that its creator was, for a lack of a better term, neutralized.

But how was he going to get out of the mess he's in now? His face was practically flattened with a force equaling to that of three speeding vans on the freeway, his, well, everything below the neck was wounded some way, and he was sure Ed wouldn't just let him forfeit out of the fight without giving him back what had kickstarted every single event in the last three days.

Ed might be lacking in general common sense and competence, but even he can learn from mistakes. You can only repeat mistakes for so long until you know what to do now to counteract them.

"Where is it?" There was a silent sort of desperation in his voice, the kind one's tone would take on when they're faced with an undesirable situation they were forced to pick. Jimmy had never heard Ed sounding this sad before in his life. The thought of Ed sounding even remotely sad never even crossed his mind, but here they are, Ed sounding negative while Jimmy can barely put up a fight.

His vitality ebbing dangerously low, Jimmy felt his Carousel quiver and faded out of existence, retreating back into his psyche. Now he really can't fight back, no Stand confrontation and his body mangled for the umpteenth time. Jimmy's eyes fluttered shut and it took all he had to fight back the impending unconsciousness. Exhaustion winning out against what's left of his energy, Jimmy closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to sink into the depths of his subconscious.

Ed viewed the scene in front of him. Eddy was back to his normal self but still out cold with his face down on the dirt, while Jimmy was practically an unrecognizable mess of a boy. If it wasn't for how often he gets injured and how normal Jimmy looks with a whole body injury, Ed would probably wouldn't even recognize the boy.

Ed frowned. At the end of the day, they still didn't get the arrow back. It was still elusive as ever, out of their grasp and without even a hint of its whereabouts. It was like it had a mind of its own, manipulating events that would leave it in the hands of other candidates worthy of Stand power.

At least they had Jimmy under their thumb for now. Maybe he could at least them the general area where he his the arrow, that would really narrow down their locations to search through.

Now all he needs to do is to carry both Eddy and Jimmy back to Rolf and Edd for them to heal and recover.

Ed bent down and hoist Eddy over his shoulder, then proceeded to do the same thing to Jimmy. Taking a few steps away from the enclosure, Ed froze. How was he going to get out of Prodigialias Street without making it look like he just murdered them and carting their body away?

* * *

Eddy mumbled something incoherent and sat up, rubbing his eyes while scratching his head. He looked around and immediately recognized from the coloring scheme that he was in Edd's room, only for his view of the rest of the room obstructed by a large white partition.

He looked down at his body and saw medical white bandages wrapped around sections of his legs and chest, as well as one patch near where his shoulder and left arm connect. He tried flexing his arms but winced at the mild sting, it wasn't anything obnoxious or alarming, just an irritable sensation.

Eddy groaned; once again he's disabled in some way, left to recover on his own while the others are left to do whatever they want to do. The curtains billowed silently next to him and Eddy glanced at it yearningly when he heard the echoing voice of other children. His gaze fell onto the other side of the room and he discovered Jimmy staring into a book, reading a fantasy novel while his Stand stood by him, holding a plate of sugar cookies for him to enjoy.

He was, when compared to Eddy, was significantly more injured. Half of his face was wrapped in bandages, while his lower body was decorated with patches. The bandaged half of his face was faintly purple around the edges and thin cuts were poking out from the cloth. Jimmy didn't seem too bothered by his current status though, calm and relaxed, as though he wasn't bedridden, though given how often he gets injured, it was possibly a routine thing for him.

Jimmy caught his gaze and settled down his book, giving Eddy an awkward, "Hi."

"Yo."

They both fidgeted around with the blanket of their cot.

"You seem, a lot less aggressive today. Why's that?"

"I was angry at Ed for not seeing the obvious fact that you have the arrow. I was also kinda grumpy from waking up early searching the cul-de-sac top to bottom, so I wasn't exactly, y'know, holly jolly."

Jimmy nodded slowly at his answer, then asked another question, "Why are you guys so determined in getting the arrow back? I mean, I know that it gives people Stands, but that's just it. Is it more significant than what the others told me?"

"Sockhead and Stretch aren't really big on having that arrow slicing people and making them Stand user we have to deal with. Just think about it; if you know superpowers existed, wouldn't you want one too?"

The rhetorical question left hanging in the air, the two of them went right back to the serene silence as the noon turned into late afternoon. During that time, Eddy couldn't help but fidget around, wiggling in his cot and blanket, rustling around while Jimmy merely flipped another page in his book. Sighing, he dogeared the page he was reading and turned to Eddy, "If you keep rustling around like that, you'll just irritate your bandages."

"How do you put up with this? These dumb bandages are so itchy and I feel really thirsty!"

"With how often I get injured, I learn how to occupy myself with things I can do like drawing and reading." Jimmy responded, "And don't you have a Stand? From what the others told me, Stands do everything you want."

Eddy went a soft hue in pink and grumbled. A second later, Smooth Criminal materialized into being and grabbed a jug of water on a table out of Eddy's reach and poured a cup, and then tried to push the cup into his mouth. Angrily pushing the cup away, he said, "I can drink for myself thank you," and grabbed the cup, pouring the cool liquid down his throat.

Eddy and Jimmy heard the door creaking beyond the white partition, and Edd entered the scene, with Ed and Rolf just behind him. Their hands empty of the arrow, Eddy could already tell what they will say soon.

"No arrow."

"No arrow." Rolf confirmed, "We tried to enter the Dungeon of Conjoined Education, to no avail. It is locked from the inside out to prevent any wrongdoings that any of our peers wish to enact during our break."

"So you hid the stupid arrow in the school?" Eddy asked Jimmy incredulously, "You moron! Why!?"

"So that Sarah will find it and we can play with it when our lunch period starts. I was going to give it back after a few days, but I guess that plan went right out the window," Jimmy admitted sheepishly, "Is that bad?"

"I'm going to let that answer itself with this. How many kids go to our school?" The boys went silent, mulling over the question until Edd piped up with an accurate reply, "Precisely 1,336 students, but why the sudden interest in our student population?"

"And how many of those 1,336 saps you think can control a Stand?"

The atmosphere felt colder despite the warm air inside the room. The sentence echoed around the small enclosure and bounced off the partition, entering into the ears of everyone in the room. The silence was practically the only thing that anyone could hear, despite the rustling leaves outside and the fluttering curtains of the windows, as the full ramifications of leaving the arrow inside the school sink into their brain.

Rolf's stomach tightened uncomfortably, and he spoke, "Once our break ends, we will redouble our efforts to find the arrow. Use every available moment you have to comb through every inch of our school, from the basement to even the roof if you must; leave no room unchecked."

The three Eds gave a curt nod, while Jimmy meekly held up his hand, "Yes Jimmy-boy?"

"What am I going to do now? You all have me under my thumb now, so what's going to happen?"

Rolf went silent; frankly, he had no idea what's going to happen to Jimmy now that the arrow still eludes them. He simply planned on putting the arrow back under his ownership on a much closer watch, but he had no plan for what will happen to Jimmy afterward. Now that he has a Stand at his beck and call, it would be unwise to leave Jimmy without any guidance or warning him of what would happen if he leaked out any information about Stands.

Finally coming up with a good course of action, Rolf stated, "You may participate with the Ed-boys in Stand training starting tomorrow's noon if you wish, as it is unwise to leave your budding skills with a Stand unpolished. You will also assist us with recovering the arrow from the confines of our school once spring break ends."

"Tomorrow noon? But these wounds probably takes weeks to heal!" Jimmy protested. Rolf handwaved his concern aside, "No worries, they will heal fully and completely once dawn breaks, thanks to Mama's healing salves. In fact, Rolf believes Eddy-boy has fully recovered now."

"?" Eddy raised an eyebrow at Rolf's remark and rolled his arms and joints experimentally. Much to his pleasant surprise, the wounds beneath the bandages didn't sting anymore, and his body felt as good as new, though he felt somewhat tired despite his recovered status. Healed wounds doesn't equal full stamina, as it turns out, Eddy thought blandly.

"How do you feel, Jimmy?" Ed asked politely.

"Not as sore as I thought I would be with these bandages on, so I guess I really will make a full recovery tomorrow morning."

"Everything seems to be in order," Edd observed, "Eddy, do you wish to change out of your bandages?"

"No thank you, my dear Double-D; I sure love having parts of my body wrapped up in stiff-as-all-hell bandages that are practically cutting off my blood circulation," Eddy remarked snarkily, "Hell yeah, get these things off of me!"

Eddy hobbled clumsily off of the medical cot and waddled over to Edd, who guided him slowly out of the room. Jimmy rested his head back onto the pillow, releasing a heavy sigh that relieved the tension in his chest, but ushering in concern instead.

"Ed, you should go back to your house; I didn't tell you this earlier, but Sarah's down with a nasty fever. Tell her I sent you to help her, she should let you help a bit."

Ed nodded and predictably leapt out of the window, darting towards his front door and zipped right through it with out even opening it. Rolf had a faint smile on his face, and Jimmy couldn't help but notice it.

"Anything you want to say Rolf?"

"You're not quite the same person you are yesterday." Rolf stated with a calm smile, standing up and leaving the room. Jimmy stared at the closed door and sighed again, placing a hand on his chest. He's alone, with only his Stand accompanying him in Edd's room.

Carousel sat on Eddy's cot with a puzzled look in its eyes, mirroring his inner mood nicely. Jimmy stared at it, and he wondered what part of his daily life would be destroyed next.

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **So...what didya think of my first attempt at writing a battle scene? Bad, good, let me know, okay? And constructive criticism is welcomed here, I'd be happy to know what part of my writing can be improved. Sorry if the battle seem like a copout, I don't really know how to extend the battle without making it too unrealistic. And here's Jimmy's Stand Parameters if you're curious.**

 **STAND NAME: Carousel**

 **STAND MASTER: Jimmy Blackwell**

 **Destructive Power:** **C+  
Durability: B+  
Range: A-  
Speed: C  
Precision: B-  
Development Potential: B+**

 **Ability — Stuffed Toy Transmutation: Carousel's special ability is the power to transform anyone and anything into a plushie or stuffed toy, whether they're alive, dead or an inanimate object. The speed of change is dependent on multiple factors, though typically it will take ten minutes to fully transform a person. The speed of change can be halted if the victim is 35 meters away from Jimmy, though the change speed can be accelerated if Carousel hits the victim multiple times.**

 **Also, no updated Smooth Criminal Stand Parameters just yet, you haven't seen its ability yet. Oh, and by the way, as a quick heads up, there's gonna be two casual chapters up next that details Jimmy's adjustment to having a Stand and Ed taking care of Sarah, and after those two, there's gonna be a next arc. What's it gonna be about is going to be up to** **you, but it's either going to be more casual chapters or another arc after the Eds' spring break that details another kid in Peach Creek Junior High getting sliced by the arrow and becoming another Stand user the Eds and Rolf will have to face off against. There's a poll on my profile, so vote there if you want your choice to be heard.**

 **Also also, I didn't put the fever part in there for no reason, and Sarah was sick around the same time Ed got Monster Mash...**

 **Well, see ya next time!**


	7. Going Up from a Fever

**Chapter 6: Going Up From a Fever**

Ed carefully stirred a bowl of chicken soup and peppered in a few chopped onions and carrots, giving it another stir before setting the porcelain bowl onto a breakfast tray gently. He silently thanked Edd for preparing most—if not all—of the soup for him; he never was quite a culinary expert like his best friend was, if the train wreck that was Ponce de la Ed was any indication.

Ed had no idea why serving warm soup to a feverish Sarah was a good idea, so Edd had taken the liberty to inform him about the perks of chicken soup. Though it would be more accurate to say Edd had jabbered on about dehydration and calcium while Ed had no clue what he was talking about.

Ah, whatever. If Edd says soup for Sarah is a good idea, then soup for Sarah is a good idea. He's not the smartest kid ever for nothing, after all.

Being extra delicate with Sarah's meal, Ed gently tiptoed up the stairs and walked right in front of his baby sister's bedroom door. Ed tried to knock on the door, but since both of his arms was occupied with holding up the breakfast tray, he can't knock the door without having the tray's content slide off to one side and eventually spill onto the floor. He could simply support the entire thing with one arm only, but it would still have the same risk, only about twice as likely to happen. Ed prefers keeping his baby sister relatively calm and relaxed, not having her cleaning up what was his mess.

A simple solution popped to his head and he would have slapped himself if he can. Monster Mash fizzled into existence and lightly rapped the door with its knuckles, speaking in Ed's voice, "Baby sister? Big brother is here to give soup and replenish your health bar!"

Sarah gave a faint sigh tinged with annoyance, "Come in Ed."

Monster Mash gently opened the door and fizzled back out of existence, allowing Ed to sidle into the pink bedroom. Sarah was on her phone, flicking through videos and photos boredly, sending yearning looks out of her window whenever Jimmy's voice could be heard from the cul-de-sac.

"Just set the tray there," Sarah said, gesturing at her bed offhandedly.

Setting the tray with the soup over her legs, Ed grabbed a chair and seated himself in it, a patient smile on his face.

At first, Sarah noticed Ed's prolonged presence but thought nothing of it, being too sick to force him out and being accustomed to his behavior to really care. The silence was nice at least, despite the occasional exclamation from their peers floating in from outside every now and then. Sarah had set down her phone and sipped a spoonful of the chicken soup, while Ed had fidgeted around in his chair, glancing out of the window occasionally.

Sarah had finally finished the chicken soup and returned to staring at her phone, head propped up on one arm. Her fever had left her alone for the time being, but she didn't even want to remove her legs from the cover of her blanket. Everything from the waist down felt like jelly, impaled with pins and needles whenever she even shifts them to the left or right.

She hated it. The fever was so infuriating; it left her feeling helpless and fragile, like a delicate porcelain doll that has to be cared for even if a slight puff of wind even blew past her. It made her blood boil, more so than when Ed had smothered and coddled her when he tries to act like an older brother.

Sarah felt her fever start to make a comeback, but it was more like it came in waves of intensity, intensifying and dying in rhythm. It was odd for sure, but nothing unbearable, so she had tolerated it for now. But what was odder was Ed's sustained presence in her room.

Normally, whenever she came down with some sort of illness—be it a cold, a fever or even occasional influenza—Ed would often come into her room, invited or not, and tried his best to alleviate the boredom of being bedridden, badly. He tried to feed her his own take on chicken soup (that just gave her food poisoning on top of her sickness to recover from), bad jokes that required a few years of comic book knowledge to get the punchline, or even trying to lull her to sleep with one of his comic book that he had lining his pockets (why Ed thought Marlene of the Deep was a good bedtime story was beyond her).

But instead of doing anything listed above, Ed had served food that's doesn't double as a biohazard and had stayed silent by her bedside, doing nothing besides fidgeting in his chair every few minutes and shooting glances to the outside world. It irritated her for some reason; while nearly everything Ed does irks her, she was more annoyed in a more, healthy way, to put it.

Whenever she gets annoyed, if the wrong thing was said or done, it was usually enough to launch her straight into a destructive temper tantrum that can last for hours to even days. But right now, she was far calmer than she usually is when she's annoyed.

But that doesn't detract from the edge in her tone one bit.

"Why are you still here?"

Ed flinched but relaxed; with how silent Sarah had been, he hadn't expected her to suddenly speak. Then again, this is Sarah, so she's not going to stay quiet forever.

"If you need anything else, I could get it for you."

"Why?! Just because I'm stuck in bed, doesn't mean I'm useless! I can help myself—" Just then, her voice decided to tear itself up with sandpaper and Sarah coughed into a napkin roughly, ejecting phlegm and saliva out into the fabric weakly.

"I hate this..." Sarah murmured unhappily. She laid back on the pillow with a heavy sigh and shut her eyes for a few seconds, feeling heat swirling throughout her body like a river. Sarah cracked her eyes, and much to her displeasure, Ed was hovering over her bed with a dopey yet somewhat infuriating smile.

"Get lost, I don't feel like yelling today," Sarah said bluntly.

"What do you want me to get you?"

"Peace and quiet. And you can give me that by making like a tree and _leave_." Sarah rolled on her side and tried to face away from her overbearing brother. Even without looking behind her, Ed still hovered over her, smile still on his face.

"What's the point of being here? I'm going to get better without your help." It was a rhetorical question that wasn't meant to be answered, but Ed had provided an answer regardless.

"I'm being a big brother, and you're sick, and big brothers are meant to help their little sisters get better."

Sarah felt her anger bubbling and ground her teeth angrily; was he implying that she can't recover by herself?!

"I don't need your help, you ape!" Sarah shouted, and immediately regretted it as her voice abandoned her, leaving her throat as a scratchy mess. In a quieter voice, she murmured, "I never needed your help in getting better and I never will. I can recover by myself."

"I want to help. Big brothers are supposed to be there for their sister, to help them get up when they fall down," Ed said with a wise tone in his voice. An uncommon event of Ed displaying emotional wisdom being displayed right in her room, Sarah turned around to face her brother with eyes dilated wide.

"I want to help you get better. People say you're strong by allowing others to help you, and I believe that a lot. So can you please let me do my job as a big brother?"

And there it was, the first cracks in her icy fortress. The ice wasn't going to melt all at once; it will be a marathon of combined efforts from two siblings to get it to fully thaw, but it will be a journey that they don't have to go alone. Strings of unbreakable bonds that were once strained between Ed and Sarah has begun to reform, and just for that moment, Sarah felt her fever disappear.

"...I...Okay." Ed's mini-speech had touched her heart a little bit if she had the heart to admit right there and then. She hated being helped; to her, help equals you're weak, you're incapable of doing things yourself. She wouldn't let anyone assist her with even the most difficult of things if she can help it, that she'll do everything by herself. Even when it comes to Jimmy, Sarah was still hesitant to allow him to help her.

But if Ed was right, then it wouldn't be that bad to get help. Honestly, he does have point in saying that she's strong in letting him help her; it would be mentally easier to go it alone to her.

"Can you, uh, shut the blinds for me? It's getting a little too bright for my liking," Sarah requested awkwardly, and her heart clenched for a moment. It felt like she was holding her breath from the nonexistent tension, and when she finished speaking, her heartbeat felt like it was wobbling. Asking for help feels stressful for some reason.

"Okay, baby sister."

Sarah blinked. That was, both hard and easy at the same time, both stressful and soothing. While she doesn't expect mental poisoning from allowing Ed to assist her, she does expect to feel degraded, insignificant and small. The feeling gave her a surprising but pleasant sensation in her heart, and Sarah started to take a brighter outlook on her brother.

She heard a gentle click coming from the foot of her bed, and craned her head up to see the fan had been turned on and oscillating left and right. It sends gentle cooling breeze up to her body, but Sarah grew curious; how did the fan got turned on? While she didn't have her eyes in front of her bed or Ed, she has a fairly acute hearing, and Sarah was sure she didn't even hear any footsteps that lead to the fan.

Maybe the fever was getting to her? Because she swore she also saw an armored gray arm withdrawing behind Ed in a puff of green mist. Ugh, she needs to sleep or else the fever will push her off the deep end.

"Lummox—I mean, Ed, can you give me some time to, sleep on things? I'm getting a little woozy and some peace and quiet might do me some good."

Ed gave her a gentle nod and rise out of his chair, closing the windows, shutting the blinds and leaving her alone in her bedroom with only a cool shade and the white noise of the fan as her companions.

Sarah felt a gentle smile curled her lips, and she grew more comfortable in her bedroom despite the burning fever coursing through her body. She felt her consciousness slowly drifting to sleep, lulled by the quiet whirring of the fan.

Sarah felt at peace and warmth blossomed inside her heart. Ed was always so nice and kind, and she couldn't believe she had the brains (or rather the lack of brains) to push him away. What the heck was wrong with her?

A heavy knot of guilt dragged her stomach down like an anchor and the warmth in her room wasn't so comforting anymore.

Sarah turned around gruffly and puffed a warm puff of air out of her mouth. What's the use in feeling bad for things that she did in the past? It's in the past and not the future, and she prefers to live in the present.

Eyelids drooping and shutting close, Sarah allowed her consciousness to float off into the peacefulness of her subconscious's expanse.

The stillness of the room was almost reminiscent of a graveyard, quiet, desolate and cold. A gentle scarlet mist that streamed outwards from the resting Sarah's body like a bloody stream adds to the eerie ambiance quite a bit, and an indistinct figure feminine in shape wrapped its arms around the resting redhead protectively.

* * *

"Hmm..." Rolf tapped the side of his head thoughtfully. Sarah has a fever? And she just suddenly develops one when the arrow got out? There's something he's forgetting...something about family blood.

Then again, Rolf relaxed ever so slightly, it could simply be a simple fever and nothing more than that, he's probably just blowing it out of proportions.

He heard a light knock coming from his bedroom door and allowed the person outside in with a simple, "Enter."

The door creaked open, and Edd entered his bedroom with a quiet, "Pardon my intrusion," Rolf nodded invitingly at Edd and beckons him to sit down on a chair just across his bed.

Making himself comfortable, Edd immediately asked the first question, "Have you send out the letter yet?"

"Yes, but we shouldn't expect a response back soon," Rolf answered back and elaborate further, "The Old Country is...secluded, to say the least. Rolf's people are a rather secretive group and aren't exactly the most welcoming towards new strangers. That's not to say we absolutely detest outsiders, merely wary of those among our ranks. We don't want a—how do Americans say it—wolf's in sheeps' clothing."

"Hmm, makes sense, your people are simply trying to prevent their secret about Stands from getting out to unsavory ears." Edd nodded.

"We have more secrets than just Stands and Arrows, but for now, you're right."

The intellectual preteen frowned at the statement and shelved it away, asking another question, "You said the Old Country is secluded, and it shows. I had researched about it to figure out more about the arrow's history or your own cultures on my own whim, yet there's no information about the Old Country whatsoever! With the amount of information—or lack thereof—if it wasn't for the fact you have proven to be trustworthy, I would have trouble taking your words at face value."

Rolf steepled his fingers together and an expression resembling that of thoughtfulness settled on his face, "Rolf admits, _the Old Country_ is a bit of a misnomer, he apologizes. A more accurate term would be a collection of villages descending from the same people with the same general principles and cultures. As the son of a shepherd has said before, we are rather...reclusive. We try to make as little contact with the outside world as possible, not only because we're trying to keep our secrets to ourselves, but also because it's, well, simply convenient at that point. We have a peaceful, self-sustaining community, no need to interact with the outside world, with many resources like lakes, mines, forests and farms at our disposal. Turning our Old Country into a first world country would be an extreme hassle."

"If so, then why move to the Americas?"

"Change of environment?" Rolf suggested sardonically, "Rolf doesn't know, honestly, you may need to inquire that question with Papa and Nano himself."

Edd made a tight frown; he's getting more questions than he does answers.

"How many Stand users do you think we'll need to deal with once our spring break draws to a close?"

"No idea," Rolf answered flatly, "If we're lucky, we might be able to recover the arrow before our fellow students discover the arrow and prick themselves."

"What are the odds of that?" in a very un-Edd-like manner, the capped boy huffed in annoyance, and dread weight his stomach down.

It would be the very first time in years he would dread school.

* * *

Eddy hummed an off-tune ditty under his breath. It was around 6 p.m. when the sun started to dip towards the western end of the sky. A dull orange glow took over the sky's hue, cricket's chirps became the ambient noise and the cool wind gently whipped against his face. All in all, a great peaceful end to what was a relatively uneventful day.

The small Stand user hummed cheerfully and twirled a small quarter on his index finger. And to top it all off, he founded a quarter abandoned by the roadside when he decided to take a small stroll down the street just to take in the fresh air. An uneventful day, but one he didn't mind all that much. It was definitely better than playing nurse to Sarah of all people, god was he glad he managed to sneak out when Ed and Edd were preparing that soup.

Eddy nodded his head rhythmically to the chirping and shoved the quarter back into his pockets because god knows he does not want to lose even a single penny from his wallet.

"Hey, dork!"

Eddy slowly came to a halt and sent the bicycling jock an uninterested but wary glance. Ever since Smooth Criminal became his to command, what was once his rival who had, well, everything he wanted became just some dude on a bike. Not intimidating at all.

"What?"

Honestly dude, get it over and done with. It's probably gonna be a string of insults and jabs at his height as usual.

"Where are you going, the Candy Store?"

Or he could be nice and be curious about what he's doing for once—

"Is it to drool on the window as usual?"

Groan. Figures.

"Get lost, mind your own beeswax, Jocky." Eddy huffed. If it was any other day, he would have been warier and frightened of Kevin's presence alone, but honestly, he's more irate than anything. God, he never noticed how often Kevin had taunted him on a daily basis when he's not riding his bike. Doesn't the prick has anything else to do? Is taunting him really that enjoyable of a pastime or something?

The red-capped boy turned a red hue in color, "Why should I listen to you?"

"Because you don't know what I can do to you."

"Yeah right, like what, scam me again for the hundredth time? Let's see what you can do, Dorky!"

Eddy rolled his eyes but couldn't crush the grin curling his lips. Oh man, he was waiting all his life for this, no way in high hell was he going to pass this chance up when Kevin literally asked for it.

"Smooth Criminal," Eddy whispered under his breath, and the golden humanoid spirit appeared by his side. Oblivious to Smooth Criminal's presence, Kevin kept on smiling like a loon and god was Eddy eager to wipe that smug smile off his face.

 **"Ka-ching!"** With a single firm punch enough to get the bike moving but not actually damage it, Smooth Criminal swiftly struck the front of Kevin's bike with its knuckles and launched bike away from Eddy at a moderate pace, turning the smug smirk on Kevin's smile into a expression of bewilderment as his beloved two-wheeled vehicle moved seemingly on its own volition.

"Whoa—ahh!"

Eddy watched with a grin wide enough to put the Cheshire Cat to shame as the bike rolled away from his position, away and farther away and Eddy could still see the grimace of sheer confusion and anger on Kevin's face, even as he clattered into a pile as his dumb bike lost momentum.

An intense feeling of satisfaction swelled up inside his gut like a balloon and Eddy zoomed away to the Candy Store with Smooth Criminal's legs manifested over his own like some kind of robotic exoskeleton. Messing with Kevin with his Stand is one thing, but running away faster than he could ever achieve with his dumb bike was the scrumptious cherry on top. No wonder Kevin screwed with him so often, it feels freaking amazing.

Pushing the door of the Candy Store open, Eddy came back out with a jawbreaker in his hand. He frowned, Ed and Edd could use a jawbreaker, god knows they need one when they've been tending to Sarah all afternoon. Whatever, their loss.

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **Ho hum, would ya look at that...**

 **Sorry for the short chapter, this one is less action and more world building, so there's not a lot of Ed shenanigans that's going on. Hope you still like it though, next chapter will have an Ed, Edd 'n Eddy-like situation hopefully and the chapter after that should be whatever you vote for.**

 **On that note, good Christ you people like Ed shenanigans don't you?**

 **Until next time!**


	8. A Stand-Up Ed Club

**Chapter 7: A Stand-Up Ed Club**

"I can't believe this," Eddy whined, broom in hand and sweeping the dust with an expression that can somehow make babies cry and laugh at the same time.

Ed happily hummed as he went between small crevices between jars and tables with a vacuum attachment in hand, sucking away cobwebs and dust buildup like it was an ordinary day, while Edd was somewhere outside, wiping dirt, dust, and grime off of his home's windows.

Edd had swung by his bedroom door an hour earlier and had asked him to help with tidying his home earlier, but Eddy, being far too drowsy to hear him properly, drones out an automatic 'Yes'. It wasn't until the Eds got to Edd's home and the intellectual Ed shove a broom and a dustpan into his hand that Eddy realized too late Edd has once again strong-armed him into cleaning his house.

Eddy grumbled loudly and made a general sweeping motion with his broom, spreading dust and creating more of a mess than gathering it up. Ed skipped into one of the guest bedrooms by the side of the hallway they were in and repeated what he did in the hall.

Good god, how could anybody be so obnoxiously happy while cleaning their friend's house is beyond Eddy's comprehension. He might actually prefer fighting Jimmy and his Stand instead of sweeping dirt into a pan and dumping it into a garbage bag, at least fighting doesn't involve a broom, a mop and way too much cleaning chemicals for one's health most of the time.

Eddy felt an epiphany of a good idea came to him and willed Smooth Criminal into being. The muscular humanoid hovered at his beck and call, and Eddy shoved his broom and dustpan into its hands with a single command, "Sweep the dirt into the dustpan,"

It was a hilarious sight to behold; a well-built fighting spirit, manifested by his psyche and controlled by his drive to fight, garbed in wear that doesn't look too out of place in a Mafia and with enough strength to effortlessly knock aside doors and trees like styrofoam, was holding a broom and a dustpan and was currently staring at both objects like it had never even seen them. It was hard to divine its expressions thanks to the mask, but Eddy wouldn't be too surprised if its eyes were contorted into an expression of befuddlement.

Smooth Criminal awkwardly stared at the two cleaning utensils in his hands, then aimed his glance to his master as if to say, _"Seriously?"_ then back to the items in his hands. The Stand then opted to settle the dustpan onto the floor then gingerly used the broom to clumsily brush the dust into the pan.

It was comedic and Eddy couldn't help but allow a small snort to escape past his lips. A light cough was made to his left and he turned his head to see the impassive Edd with an apron and a squeegee in his hand.

"Of all the things you summoned your Stand to do, it's not for a physical confrontation or even for petty mischief, but to clean the floor up?" Edd has an amused timbre in his voice but his physical expression was locked into a stoic facade. Eddy made a cheerful smirk.

"What? Don't tell me you actually expected me to stick to my guns and actually clean the floor up with a broom?" Eddy scoffed, "Nope. Besides, you gotta admit it's kinda hilarious."

"I do find it amusing," Edd conceded, "though it's because I see it as the ultimate testament to how absolutely horrid you are at cleaning. Goodness gracious you cannot hold a broom properly to save your life."

"If you knew how craptastic I am at using a broom, why even have me come over and make a mess of your house?"

Edd sighed, "Honestly, in hindsight, I should know better than letting you use a broom. But the reason I brought you along is to have a few helping hands around the house for spring cleaning."

"That's it?" Eddy raised a single eyebrow, "Just to have an easier time with cleaning your house? Not to tell us about what you learned over at Rolf's?"

"That's it. What I have discovered at Rolf's home raised more questions than it does answers anyways."

Eddy felt his chest deflated like a punctured water balloon; great, another day of no progress as usual.

"Is it me? Or is it just nothing but broken expectations and lack of progress these last few days?"

"I think we see nothing _but_ broken expectations and lack of progress every day, Eddy."

* * *

Jimmy sighed and stared out the window with a glazed look in his eyes. Was it around 7 a.m.? Maybe 8? He doesn't even bother to look at the clock hanging on his bedroom wall, lacking the will to turn his head and look at the time-tracking device. It's nothing but boring things so far.

Ever since the pyrrhic victory of his fight with Eddy and his Stand—Smooth Criminal, he calls it?—time felt like it slowed down to a standstill. Yesterday was a breath of new air, but it was more like a gasp of air after nothing but stiflingly boring days, it was bound to be routine anyway. At least he has a new companion in the form of Carousel.

The strange guardian spirit had stuck to his side all day long ever since the arrow unsealed him from Jimmy's mind. Day and night, kitchen or bathroom, Carousel had been by him like it was conjoined to his hip. It had taken him minutes sometimes to dispel Carousel when he wanted some personal space to himself.

Jimmy didn't know why he felt so embarrassed; from what Rolf and Edd explained to him during their impromptu lecture about Stands, they were no more than manifestations of his fighting spirit, nothing more. But sometimes, it felt like Carousel has a tiny spark of self in it, though that's probably just him.

Well, at least his Stand makes for a possibly great cooking buddy. And on the subject of cooking, Jimmy felt rather peckish recently and there should be another Stand controlling lesson coming up soon, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to cook up something energizing to eat.

Angel hair pasta with a spicy tomato sauce and a bit of parmesan sound nice, but let's see what the cupboard has first.

* * *

Ed turned his head around and viewed his two best friends entering the guest bedroom through the door behind him, with an undecipherable expression on their face. The oaf kicked the vacuum to the off setting, "What's wrong guys?"

Edd shook his head, "It's nothing Ed, just a short conversation Eddy and I had."

"Um, okay," Ed was still somewhat curious to what the two had said but shelved his curiosity aside, he had heard bits and pieces of their conversation through the whirring of the vacuum and it didn't sound that important, so he'll take Edd's word for it.

"Should we keep up the cleaning or should we stop for today?"

"We can stop for today, I'll handle the rest of the house myself. Do you want some beverages?"

The duo of blockheads gave Edd a single nod. A few minutes later had them in Edd's kitchen, with a cup of frosty cold lemonade in their hand and a conversation in full bloom in between them.

"So, what are we going to do in school? The arrow is in there somewhere, how are we going to look for it?" Ed asked in curiosity, swirling his lemonade absentmindedly.

"Well, maybe ask people if they've seen anyone holding it or not? That's definitely a start." Eddy said.

"Mmhm, as long as they don't ask too many prying questions, I suppose we'll be fine. The only hiccup I see is our schoolmates asking why a sharp object is in the school." Edd hummed.

"We have an archery club, we could just say—uh, one of those club members lost their lucky arrow in the school and they asked us to help them look for it." Eddy suggested.

"What do we do if the pointy stick already scratched somebody and turned them into a Stand user? And what if they don't wanna give it back?"

Eddy and Edd shot each other a concerned glance. If Jimmy was any indication, any Stand, no matter how weak they are, can be easily menacing if the user was stubborn enough. What if history repeats itself and an Arrow-made Stand user refused to give the arrow back? What if the arrow was hidden once again, but somewhere else instead of the school?

Edd scratched the back of his head, "We'll...cross that bridge when we get there."

The Eds sipped from their cups in relative silence.

"Gee, uh," Eddy started awkwardly, "This sure looks familiar, doesn't it?" It's way too familiar. Three of them, after a bit of their day's time spent on cleaning Edd's house, had come to the kitchen for a quick drink. They were even drinking lemonade from the same cup, and in the same seat a few days prior and everything!

"Most definitely. I'm almost expecting another brawl to break out in Rolf's yard between him and another miscellaneous farm animal, except this time around we'd be able to see what was happening," Edd said wryly.

"I almost kinda want another animal to get poked by the pointy stick and be a Stand user," Ed hummed.

"I kinda want that too, would definitely add a spice of excitement around here," Eddy agreed.

Edd looked down at his mug and frowned, "Ah, it appears that the ice in our lemonade has melted."

"Ooh, want me to chill the drink again?" Ed offered excitedly. Edd made a tremulous smile, he knows about Ed's ability but he knew it also has to be violently triggered to make use of and he doesn't want to add broken glass to the list of things he needed to clean,"No, it's okay Ed. Introducing more ice to the cup would dilute it further anyway."

But Ed had already left his chair and towards the fridge. Eddy already knew what was happening and had smartly retreated behind the doorway, peeking out just to see what will happen to entertain him. Honestly, Edd should probably do the same.

Ed rummaged around the freezer and pulled out an ice-tray, summoning Monster Mash as he did so. The boy placed the tray next to the mug and Monster Mash reared back both of its fists. Edd frantically scrambled back behind the kitchen's doorway as well just as Ed's Stand slammed its fist together with a loud, **"Suba!"**

 ** _クースーシ_** ** _！_**

A resounding crash echoed through the house and Edd's gut twisted in horror as he viewed the scene in front of him. What was left of his glass cup was now nothing more than fragments of differing sizes, the smallest being about his fingertips. Larger ones were scattered across the room with visible cracks all over its entirety along with a few ice cubes alongside it.

The lemonade was a rather interesting sight. While it was still a liquid, there was some a blue hue in it that kept shifting unsurely, sometimes shifting into a solid matter back into its base material of plastic, or sometimes it had a more liquid-like consistency, but it was separate from the lemonade like oil to water. Chunks of ice were poking out from it but it was in a similar situation as the plastic, constantly shifting inconsistently.

"Whoopsy Daisy," Ed giggled without a single hint of malice in his voice, "That didn't come out right." Monster Mash, despite its intimidating build, was much like an overgrown and horrifyingly muscular child. Curiosity was evident in its eyes like it had never seen broken glass before and it had a small confused frown on its face.

Edd moaned in horror, "This is going to be a nightmare to clean up."

"Don't worry! I'll have Monster Mash revert its powers!" Monster Mash raised its fist once again to try and reverse its ability, only for Edd to exclaim, "NO!"

Ed and his Stand turned to Edd confusedly.

"I—I prefer it, Ed, if you don't mesh the table with the floor like what you did to Rolf before. We need to get a new table anyway, so it's best to throw it away."

"Um, okay! Do you want me to clean up the glass?"

Edd made a hesitant nod but Ed was already on his knees, picking up bits of glass and dropping them into his free hand. Eddy asked, "Do you want me to stay and help clean up or..."

"You should go ahead and participate in Rolf's training," Edd sighed, "Tell him Ed and I can't make it for today."

Eddy already turned around and left the house, but he heard what Edd said loud and clear.

* * *

Jimmy fidgeted around uncomfortably. Brunch was a total train wreck and then some, goodness gracious he really does need to participate in training his Stand because Carousel was like King Midas, except everything it touches turns to a stuffed toy instead. What a waste of good food ingredients, Jimmy silently mourned the loss of what could be a nutritious and delicious meal.

The boy turned to the side and saw Eddy briskly jogging down the last flight of stairs leading to the underground training area. Curiously without Ed and Edd by his side.

"Where's Double-D and Ed?" Jimmy inquired.

"Cleaning up Ed's mess," Eddy responded diplomatically. Honestly, there were no more words needed to say what happened.

Jimmy nodded as though he knew what had happened. From next to them, Rolf descended down the stairs, frowning seeing only two people down at the training ground with him.

"Where is deceivingly-intelligent-and-sassy Ed-boy? And harbinger-of-destruction Ed-boy?"

"Cleaning up Ed's mess." Eddy parroted in annoyance.

Rolf remained quiet but quickly shook his silence away, "Ed-boy, Jimmy-boy. The two of you may spar for this session of training."

The boys stiffened like they didn't hear Rolf properly.

"Spar? As in, a physical confrontation?" Jimmy asked hesitantly. While he had only been to one session of training so far, he imagined the rest would be more like lessons in school. Of course, there would be practical bits thrown in, Jimmy's not going to be an expert off of just lectures alone.

"You sure I should spar Jimmy boy? Smooth Criminal doesn't really play nice and gentle, and he gets really rough when we get into it," Eddy warned, "It might be a repeat of last time."

"This is simply a practice match, so there's no need to use all of your Stand's strength on each other." Rolf said, "If any of you get wounded, there is still quite a stockpile of Mama's healing salves in the backroom."

Eddy and Jimmy sent a wary glance towards each other, still hesitant about fighting, even if it was merely pseudo-fighting and for good intentions.

"You sure?" the two boys asked in unison.

"It's merely your choice or not whether you want to engage in a duel. Rolf shall respect your decision if you wish to abstain from a spar for now."

Jimmy sighed, "No, I'll participate in dueling. If more Stand Users pop up like you said, then a bit of practical training can go a long way toward helping me stand in a fight."

"Yeah what the squirt said," Eddy agreed.

Rolf nodded in approval, "Very well then. The conditions to winning are either to fully stun your opponents three times or knocking them to the ground for three seconds."

The two boys shot each other a competitive glare, manifesting their Stands as they stand on opposite side of the training ground. Smooth Criminal slammed its fist together almost in an attempt to intimidate Jimmy and Carousel, but the diminutive boy stood undeterred.

A loud resounding snap echoed throughout the chamber, a signal to start the spar, and Smooth Criminal immediately jumped into action with a rousing, _**"Ka-ching!"**_

Carousel quickly jumped over and away from the Stand's punch, and Jimmy started to come closer just in case Carousel start to get out of range. He didn't know his range just yet but it was better to play it safe and keep close to his Stand just in case he gets too far away by accident.

 _ **"Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching!"**_ A flurry of fists shot towards Carousel at speeds beggaring imagination, and it was obvious a single hit would be enough to daze him and knock him out like a light.

Carousel threw up its arms in a defensive position, with the distance between Jimmy and Eddy being too close to quickly evade the rush attack in time, and tanked the hits as well as it could.

Every single strike hits home, yet Jimmy was no worse for the wear if he ignored the sudden stinging sensation in his arms. Jimmy and his Stand quickly hopped back a few feet and Jimmy observed Eddy and Smooth Criminal as well as he could.

Unlike him and Ed so far, Eddy hasn't discovered his Stand's ability quite yet. If he did, then Jimmy was sure Eddy would be abusing it to high heaven just to gain a better position. And instead of worrying about range like most close-range Stands do, Smooth Criminal seems to have a longer than ordinary range or else Eddy would have been staying far closer to his Stand.

Jimmy kept all of what he observed in mind and immediately sent Carousel back into the fray on the offensive. While the small Stand was still evading attacks left and right, instead of dodging and putting distance in between it and Smooth Criminal, was instead trying to close the gap between them. Finally, Carousel got close enough to deliver a good strike at Eddy to activate its ability and would have if Eddy didn't immediately whirled around on the spot and used Smooth Criminal's right arm to deliver a nasty right hook to Carousel, sending it flying back towards the wall, dazing Jimmy and stunning it for a second.

"Yeah I don't think so Cottonhair," Eddy smirked, "Not falling for that one again."

* * *

In the end, it was predictable that Eddy would come out victorious, though, to Jimmy's credit, he did put up a vicious struggle before he lost. It was a rather straightforward kind of deal, Smooth Criminal had managed to broke through Carousel's durability and had struck it with enough force to daze Jimmy for a few moments long enough to make him the loser of the duel.

The aftermath of the duel wasn't as apparent as they expected thankfully, only a few bruises scattered across their arms and torso that Rolf had quickly tended to. The small makeshift trio of Stand users sat in the backroom, chattering on about silly things. Right now, they were on the subject of food.

"I'm telling ya, Rolf, nobody wants to eat a shark that's probably still alive even when you cooked it!" Eddy argued heatedly.

"But it is a delicacy Ed-boy, one simply needs to have an adventurous appetite and palate to enjoy it!" Rolf reasoned.

"It probably doesn't taste as bad as vegetables turned to stuffed toys," Jimmy mused wistfully, "I might actually bring myself to enjoy it."

"Veggies turning to stuffed animals?" Eddy repeated interestedly, "This I gotta hear."

Jimmy blushed, "It's nothing too noteworthy, just a matter of my ability getting out of hand."

"It'll at least makes for an interesting tale to hear, perhaps Rolf can provide some pointers to help you not make the same mistake again," Rolf suggested.

Jimmy sighed, "Okay then, it started a while ago...an hour I think."

* * *

Jimmy pranced down the flight of stairs with a jaunty spring in his step, fueled by the minor onset of hunger in his belly. Since there would be another training session coming up, it would probably be a good idea to fuel up on some food for the ride.

Striding into the kitchen with a recipe in mind, Jimmy summoned Carousel and set in onto grabbing the ingredients he needs. The small jester-like being hovered towards the cupboard as Jimmy walked towards the stove and set the heat onto medium, grabbing a saucepan and a package of dry angel hair.

He filled the saucepan with water and carried it back onto the stove, setting it onto the heat. Jimmy grabbed a pair of kitchen scissors and snipped off the packaging off the pasta, plopping it into the now simmering boiling water.

The small sweater boy strafed over to the side and grabbed a wooden cutting board, sliding a single chef knife out of the holder. Jimmy may be accident-prone to, well, most things but he knows his way around a kitchen and its utensil very well, it'll be a hundred years before he accidentally scores his skin with a knife.

He mentally directed his Stand in retrieving a few tomatoes from the fridge and a can of tomato paste from the cupboard as he kept a close watch on the slowly softening pasta in the saucepan.

Carousel placed in his left hand a single tomato and Jimmy stared at it questioningly before directing his glance at culinary fruit in his hand. While it didn't seem too suspicious at first glance, it felt...off. It felt about a few ounces lighter than usual and it felt softer, more spongy.

It didn't...Jimmy took a knife and carefully cut through it. It resisted at first and it should have been the smoking gun to what was abundantly clear, but being curious he cut through the culinary fruit anyways.

Fluffy stuffing spilled out of the felt skin as expected, Jimmy sighed as he scooped the cloth and filling into his hands. Well, if there's one good thing that came out of it, is that he have a bit more stuffing and red cloth in reserve now, he thought as he gently plops the handful of cloth into the supply closet.

Jimmy twirled back around towards the kitchen and screeched in horror. Splotches of tomato paste were left on the ground like wet paint, and on the countertop to the stove's left was the can of tomato paste. Except the can was instead made out of a less durable material called fabric and the wet paste was seeping through it like coffee through a coffee filter.

Jimmy hurried towards the oozing mess and scooped the fabric and paste into his hands, dumping it into a trash can as he did so. The blue sweater boy sighed, another food ingredient bit the dust.

He moved towards the boiling pot of pasta and sighed; the noodles were still simmering and haven't fully softened yet. Jimmy directed his gaze towards the three tomatoes next to the stove and sighed. He didn't need to touch the tomatoes to know what had happened to them. Jimmy mentally added three more tomatoes to the list of ingredients that had gone to waste.

Maybe Carousel isn't as helpful as a cooking assistant as Jimmy believe it could be.

 _"Maybe I should just use Carousel for fighting purposes only,"_ Jimmy thought idly.

* * *

"And that's what happened," Jimmy finished up with a luminous glow in his cheeks, "See? Nothing too noteworthy to hear about!"

Eddy roared with laughter from his seat while Rolf had an expression of amusement settling on his face. Jimmy shrank even further into his chair as Eddy kept laughing like a twisted hyena.

"Aww man, that's hilarious!" Eddy cackled, "Sounds like you had a kitchen nightmare there, Jimmy m'boy!"

"What do you find so hilarious about it?" Jimmy asked, flustered beyond belief.

Eddy snorted in mirth, "The can was leaking red stuff, tell me that doesn't sound horror movie-tastic to you!"

Jimmy blushed even redder than what blood was capable of. Rolf smiled, "Moving soul pictures displaying horror sceneries aside, perhaps your trouble is that you put too much power into Carousel when you first summon it. Try to mentally restrain your Stand's power when you first summon it. You're summoning your Stand for cooking and nothing else after all."

"Yeah that makes sense," Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I guess I just don't need to push out all of my power when I summon my Stand."

Rolf nodded but his expression grows grim, "Anyways, we need to talk about the possible types of Stands that our peers may manifest if they get to the arrow first."

"What do you mean?" Jimmy leaned in, "There are ones that are long-ranged like mine and ones that are close-ranged like Eddy's right? What other kinds Stands are you talking about?"

"Stands aren't that simple, Jimmy-boy," Rolf sighed, "there are multiple Stands that Rolf encountered back in the Old Country that rarely—if ever—has range as a limiting factor. Automatic Stands being one."

"Automatic Stands?"

"Put simply, Stands that doesn't need direct control from their user. In a roundabout way, they are _technically_ their own being, like an offshoot of consciousness from the user."

"So that kind of Stand is like a robot," Eddy murmured, "Taking orders but the user doesn't really have that much of a say on how they do it."

"Exactly," Rolf nodded, "However, they're rather unreliable when it comes to detailed work and are inflexible. It's difficult for an automatic Stand to adapt to their situation when it changes and even the user may have some trouble trying to properly control it."

"Next type of Stand is a Colony. A Colony Stand, instead of being a single being, is instead composed of multiple of the same Stands." Rolf summarized, gesticulating his fingers for example.

"I thought people can only get one Stand," Eddy raised an eyebrow.

"Well, penny-pincher-Ed-boy is right. But instead of being made of multiple different Stands, Colonies are essentially duplicates of the same unit, and each can take independent action if the situation calls for it. Since all of those units constitute the entire Stand, individually a single unit is frail, small and weak."

"Doesn't sound too much of a problem if anyone has that kind of Stand." Eddy sighed in relief but Rolf shook his head.

"While yes, a single unit of the Stand is essentially harmless, if a large enough group attacks us, we might be in serious trouble. And since a Colony Stand divided up into individual units, it would be harder to inflict damage on the user because the damage would be divided up proportionally."

Eddy scratched his head, "Say what?"

Jimmy sighed, "He means that if there are more units, the less the damage the user takes if we manage to strike down one of them."

"Precisely," Rolf confirmed, "Now here come the trickiest Stands to identify, Bound Stands. Bound Stands, as their name suggests, are tethered to objects on our physical world, like toys, dolls, and vehicles."

Jimmy's eyes dilated in shock, "So you're saying there are Stands even normal people could see?"

"Yes, and that's exactly why they're so dangerous. Because Bound Stands can be attached to something as negligible as a writing utensil, it'll be difficult to differentiate it from the crowd. And since they manifest in an everyday object, it means that everyone, whether they're a Stand user or not, can use its ability."

The two boys stared at each other warily. Eddy said, "If one of our classmates is going to have a Bound Stand, then what's the chance of us finding it before they know they have a Stand?"

No answer and Eddy wasn't sure if there was a good answer. With all these revelations of the new types of Stands, Eddy felt rather overwhelmed; he never imagined psychic constructs of the mind drawn forth by an ancient antique arrow could be so diverse. He knew that being an expression of their life forces, he knew Stands would be different, but Eddy assumed they would look slightly different from the other and would have the same general powers. Same types, different coat of paint.

But, Colony, Automatic and Bound Stands? It was a mind blow after mind blow.

"I hope we can find the arrow ASAP, or the remaining school year would be a repeat of Jimmy all over again," Eddy groaned despairingly as Jimmy exclaimed, "Hey!"

 _ **Next Week...**_

Eddy stared up at the foreboding entrance of Peach Creek Junior High with blatant unease on his face. Despite the constant warnings and training from Rolf, he still felt extremely unnerved near the school. Just knowing the arrow was in there somewhere, away from their grasp and probably already in the hands of somebody else gave him a massive case of the heebie-jeebies.

The scamming adolescent tried to regulate his breathing as well as he could and his breathing pattern started to calm down. He was getting so worked up just by standing right outside, talk about ridiculous. Whenever they run across a problem, they'll handle it together, so no need to freak out before he even goes into the school.

Edd patted him on the back, "It's fine Eddy. You, I and Ed have developed our own Stands, so if our classmates get pierced by the arrow, we'll be able to fight back on equal footing."

Eddy made a tentative smile, "Fight back? Not like you to assume our Stand-using buddy would immediately jump to putting up a fight."

The intellectual made a similarly tense smile, "If Jimmy, a mild-manner boy, has put up such a vicious struggle before allying with us, what's to say that our classmates won't put up a similarly brutal confrontation when we come to them for the arrow?"

"Fair enough," Eddy's smile turned to something more genuine, "We'll fight back as Eds."

"Eds indeed," Ed and Edd echoed similarly.

The Eds stared at the school's front doors and went in with a smile on their faces.

* * *

 **Jack's Note**

 **Automatic, Colony and Bound Stands, oh my! Holy Jesus-tapdancing-on-a-piano-Christ, try to count how many times I used _Stand_ in this chapter. Anyways, the humor in this is kind of mild and it's more Jimmy-centric than I wanted, not to mention the horrible amount of exposition via Rolf, hope you understand (eheh). Also, you have until the twelve of this month to vote on the poll on my profile, so check that out soon!**

 **I just started to write humor, and I wanna improve, so gimme some school-related Ed-like situations, okay?**

 **Funnily enough, by the time I finish this, it'll be the first day back to school. Huh, funny how that turns out.**

 **Also, review, please! I devour your reviews and give you less crap chapters as compensation! Until next time, sayonara!**


	9. Back To School Troubles

**Chapter 8: Back To School Troubles**

Eddy tapped his notebook with the eraser end of his pencil half-mindedly and jotted down the example equation down to his notebook. Under any other circumstances, it would like any other day where he dozed off on the desk, hopefully without the teacher noticing and napping until the end of the period where he went off to repeat the same process. But given how he was slightly more nervous and jittery than usual, taking down notes and actually being a student might help at least take the subject of the arrow off his mind.

Of course, every single student in his class (sans Ed and Edd) had gaped at the unforgettable sight of Eddy actually writing down notes into his notebook, and even the math teacher had got into the act of staring at him open-mouthed.

Eddy had felt the sustained attention on him and couldn't help but wriggle and writhe in his seat. If he was at a party, he would've been eating the attention like a malnourished ape, but in a classroom where people was just silently stared at him and he already had a lot to worry about, it was just plain uncomfortable.

So Eddy diplomatically told the entire class, "Screw off and mind your own friggin' business."

Ed scribbled on a loose sheet of paper and slid the sheet to Eddy.

 _ **Itz not liek yu to no liek attenshon Eddy**_

Eddy scribbled a reply back.

 _ **I'm stressed as all crap over here, I don't need to add uncomfortable silence to the list of thing that's making me nervous.**_

The boy sighed and dropped the pencil down on the notebook, massaging his temple after doing so. While the jotting down math notes did help curb his anxiety to some degrees, eventually the stress of knowing the arrow was in the same building as him but him not knowing where it was had caught up with him like a freight train. Eddy felt like he was multiple decades older.

A quiet splat was made from the back of his neck, and when Eddy turned around in confusion, a zooming wad of chewed up paper collided against his face like a small-scale bomb. Eddy flicked the spitball away from his face just when Kevin decided to rub salt in the wound by silently cackling, with a blue straw in hand and the teacher out of the room.

The yellow-shirted boy gave Kevin a death glare that could have made him as old as he was feeling and shook the spitball on his neck off, returning back to copying notes off the whiteboard onto his notebook. Kevin, apparently forgetting what happened the week before, decided to poke the sleeping bear yet again by chewing up another piece of paper and prepped the pipe for fire. At least Eddy was prepared this time around.

Kevin took in a deep breath and fired the spitball one more time. Only for him to suddenly get knocked back onto the hard cold floor by the very same spitball he had blown out half a second prior. What the hell just happened?

To Ed and Edd however, the answer was very simple. Smooth Criminal had flickered into existence half a second before Kevin had fired, and when the spitball had gotten half a meter close to Eddy, the Stand had flicked the projectile back at the other direction with its index finger, imparting so much force onto the spitball that it had enough energy to topple the jock over.

Eddy had an expression of pure glee as he watched Kevin wobbled back to an upright position. Serves him right for treating him as his personal dartboard, see how fun it is when your own plan backfired back onto yourself.

Eddy turned around with a wide smile, if he can screw with Kevin with him none the wiser, then he'll allow the prick to get a few hits on him before retaliating. That'll make revenge all the sweeter.

* * *

Kevin stormed angrily out of math with the angriest scowl in the world. That adds two to Dorky's score of one-upping him, what is happening today?! First, it was spring break where Eddy somehow managed to push him and his bike back when he wasn't close enough to do so, and now he somehow managed to ricochet his spitball back at him without turning around and batting an eye! That's not normal, how did he do that?!

"Grr..." Kevin silently seethed under his breath as he angrily stomped off towards woodshop. Seeing Eddy striding into the classroom and knowing they were going to build a house model, a devilish smile popped onto his face.

Let's see how Dorky can fight back against this next trick.

* * *

Eddy sighed and sawed off another wooden plank for a wall of their small house. Woodshop was rather, acceptable. It wasn't as much of a torment as the stress mess that was math class, but it felt like a time waster and rather uneventful relative to everything the past week.

Ed had been delegated to supply retrieval (because Edd and Eddy refused to have another En-O-Gee incident on their hands), Eddy was tasked with sawing off the lumber for the model and Edd was kept busy with putting the actual model together.

As Ed came back around with another handful of nails, Kevin walked back around and substituted their house for a flimsier one without nails, glue and screws and vital support structures while destroying the original with a hammer and deposited the remains to the waste bin when Edd was out in the restroom and the two Eds was busy picking out supplies. Eddy, however, had kept a close peripheral gaze on their work and tugged on Ed's sleeve and pointed at their house, whispering into Ed's ear very specific instructions and slapped him towards their work.

Kevin had set his head on the worktable to catch a few winks. He felt satisfaction welled up in his heart. Whatever weird skill Dorky may have, it'll amount to nothing if it can't fasten nails and screws to keep it together.

Only for his satisfaction and hopes be dashed when Eddy said loudly and deliberately, "Wow! We sure did a great job with this assignment, this little house isn't even budging!"

"Say what?!" Like an ironic echo, Kevin stumbled off of his seat and onto the ground in confusion and stumbled to a standing position to see hopefully if Eddy is lying. To his horror, Eddy was making rough and deliberate motion with his substituted house in hand, waving and swinging the small model like a rattle and not even a single component was even moving out of place.

Ed was right at their table with a friendly smile, waving dumbly. He had a knowing glint in his eyes, and a certain gut instinct (which was ignored by Kevin in favor of his disbelief) was telling the jock he might have had a hand in the seemingly miraculous restoration.

Kevin mentally screamed; first Dorky, and now the stupid Ed is a miracle worker?!

Ed and Eddy shared a high five, and even the unseen Monster Mash and Smooth Criminal were rubbing their victory in the hatted boy's face. Edd had returned and with a mildly confused frown, questioned Eddy, "The house is different from what I remembered, what happened?"

"Don't asked, just know we finished the project early thanks to Ed's surprisingly not-as-useless-as-we-think power," Eddy whispered into his ear.

Edd frowned but didn't pursue the subject further while Kevin had a grimace of pure despair on his face.

* * *

Kevin had never felt so degraded. Two of his three favorite punching bags which were once easy pickings to pick on was turning the table faster than he could say, "Dork,". The sudden 180 in dominance was so abrupt, he wasn't even sure if it's real or not. Kevin wondered if it was karma catching up with him in spades for mistreating the three boys.

Kevin shook his head to discard even the thought of the idea. No, those three dorks deserved the treatment, and after what they did to the entire cul-de-sac with that stupid Chimp World scam, they had deserved it ten-fold.

Cooking class was up next, but he didn't know if he would even have enough self-pride in himself to look at the Eds straight in the eye.

Kevin sighed in reluctance and steeled himself for whatever humiliation that the world might throw at him next.

* * *

Jimmy hummed and mixed in a batch of milk chocolate chips into the dough for his chocolate chip cookies. Out of all the classes, cooking is his personal favorite; learning how to create a delicious meal out of raw components is both fun and useful, so why not take that class?

To his right, Eddy was seen operating a stove with a frying pan and a mixing bowl with scrambled eggs and spice mixed in. If there's one thing Jimmy can agree about Eddy, is that he knows how to make a decent omelet. Granted, the salt content would be so high that Jimmy wouldn't be too surprised if it clogs arteries upon ingestion but at least it's edible.

Turning his attention away from the stove-operating Eddy, Jimmy pulled off a wad of cookie dough from the bowl and shaped them into small flattened disks. Sadly, the cooking teacher, Mr. McIntyre doesn't base their grades off of presentation, so why decorate your classwork when it won't make that big of an impact? Classic circles are better sometimes, so it would be both less hassling and more aesthetically pleasing.

Inserting the cookie tray into an oven, Jimmy set the temperature and time, then relaxed into a stool.

A few minutes later, Jimmy took the well-baked cookies out of the oven and artistically arranged them on a plate. Even if he can't shape the cookies into pleasant shapes, he still at least have to make the dish presentable, old habits die hard and all that jazz.

After putting the final touches on his cookies and raising his hand to signal the teacher over, Jimmy strolled over to Eddy who was similarly finished with his Dead Sea-levels of salt omelet.

"Hey there Fluffy," Eddy casually remarked.

"Hi Eddy," Jimmy greeted back, "Are you okay? You were kinda pale this morning."

"Slightly stressed out about the arrow," Eddy replied back, "not as stressed anymore but still a little jumpy."

"Mmhm," Jimmy hummed, "Sorry I hid the arrow in the school. Just got a little too attached to it, I guess."

"Water under the bridge," Eddy snorted, "that arrow give you superpowers, what reasonable kid would pass it up?"

Jimmy nodded mutely, but still felt trace amount of guilt within. Even though what Eddy said made his action seems more reasonable, it was still childish and unfair for him to just steal someone else's family possession and conceal it inside their school, so close but out of reach. It was cruel in some circles.

"Fluffy, just in case you don't know, Shovelchin's going to take a bite out of your cookies." Eddy piped up. Taken out of his pondering, Jimmy whipped around to see in annoyance that said jock was preparing to gnaw on his classwork. Absolutely no respect for his classwork, Jimmy swore it's like Kevin's deliberately sabotaging him.

Conjuring Carousel, Jimmy directed his finger towards Kevin. Obeying its master's order, the Stand zoomed off towards the red-hatted boy and angrily snatched the cookie away from his hands then placed it back in its previous position. Jimmy sighed; no half-eaten classwork while he's around.

Kevin had a priceless expression; he looked like Jimmy had betrayed him and a soul-crushed glaze shined off of his eyes. Kevin's mouth was wide as a tennis ball like he wanted to scream.

Jimmy was puzzled at his expression; all he did was just use Carousel to take back...the...cookie...

Oh. No wonder Kevin was so baffled, he's not a Stand user, so to him it probably looks like Jimmy telekinetically pulled back the cookie and set it back onto the plate. But why did he reacted like he seen something similar before? Jimmy turned around to see Eddy with an absolutely soul-crushing smile directed towards Kevin. The curly-haired boy then internally remarked he could easily guess why.

* * *

Kevin felt like the world was breaking apart in logic. First Dorky, then the moron and now Jimmy of all people was displaying magic powers?! What's happening?!

His knuckles turned white from how hard he gripped the bag containing his gym clothes. Never in all of his life had he felt so lied to, with Eddy, Ed, and Jimmy displaying some signs of supernatural abilities. It wasn't right; three of the weakest person he knows (sans Ed but he'll never admit it) was turning the table back on him full force, almost as in karmic payback.

As he passes through the locker room's door, he tried to make sense of the day. No way Eddy just had his psychic powers all his life; if so then he, being the backstabbing little brat he is, would have used it to sabotage him at every turn. But given how fickle he was, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume he was hiding it to prevent Kevin from knowing it and creating a countermeasure.

But if so, then why utilize it now?

It made about as much sense as a cold sun.

Kevin sighed weakly. Given how two of the Eds showed blatant signs of some sort of paranormal abilities, it wouldn't be too unlikely that Double-Dork also showed some sign of magic powers.

* * *

Eddy jogged around the track. Normally even a mild thirty-second run would have immediately winded him, but thanks to the helpful assistance of Smooth Criminal, he was easily making five laps in a few minutes. Rolf, who was at a similar pace without Amarillo Sky's help, gave him a reproachful glare ruined by the minuscule sign of amusement in his eye.

"You would be wise to not abuse the capability of your Stand, Ed-boy. Wouldn't do us any favors to stir up suspicion."

"What, it's not like anybody would see what's happening," Eddy waved his concerns away, "Besides, I'm technically doing this without any help. Just pure Eddy, baby!"

Rolf shook his head, "If anybody knows that there is something afoot, Rolf is blaming you." Then the farmer Stand user zoomed away.

Eddy still felt self-confident. Yeah right, like anybody else can see what's really going on.

As the short boy ran around the track, Kevin started to come up behind him, a face faintly pink from exertion and glistening with sweat. He didn't seem to have any intention of sabotaging him, yet Eddy still wouldn't let a chance to screw up Kevin literally pass him by.

Slowing down to a more natural pace, Eddy allowed the biker to pull ahead a few meters ahead. Manifesting Smooth Criminal towards Kevin's position, the hatted Stand stuck its foot out and tripped him. Eddy allowed a small mocking laughter to escape from his lips but Kevin didn't seem to care, even as he slowly pushed back onto a running position, albeit with a dejected expression on his face.

Revenge is a dish best served cold, and that saying has never been truer.

* * *

Eddy slung his backpack over his shoulder and double checked everything to make sure nothing was left behind. Who To Scam and When, math notebook, pencils...looks like everything is accounted for.

Leaving the classroom with hands in his pockets, Eddy turned around to see Jimmy quickly pacing towards him, "Hi Eddy!"

"Hey there squirt," Eddy greeted casually, "What's up?"

"Just wanted to make small talk. Out of everyone I know, you would be the most, um, normal to talk to."

"Well, what do you wanna talk about?"

"Just, what kind of Stand do you think we'll need to fight against?"

Eddy tapped his chin, "Well, out of all of them, Automatic Stands sounds like the most annoying to fight against. Fighting against something that not even the user knows about is kinda annoying."

"Does sound irritating, but Colonies sounds even more hassling to defeat. The saying, _'Strength in Numbers'_ existed for good reason you know." Jimmy stated matter-of-factly. The classmates around them chattered listlessly without hearing even a single syllable from them and gradually the students funneled out from the front door until only a few handfuls of club students remained behind.

"You're right, but all of them sounds like a pain to beat though," Eddy sighed, "the rule of only Stands can beat other Stands senseless is kinda dumb in my opinion."

Jimmy frowned, "It does sound rather trivial." he allowed.

Eddy stayed silent but he nodded in approval. As the two boys left the school and to their way home, chattering on, a flash of pink and orange suddenly zipped by them like a small comet. The two screeched to a halt, trying to register what they saw was what they think it was.

"Was that?" Jimmy began. The rest of the question wasn't needed, Eddy still knew what he wanted to ask. He wanted to ask the same question too.

"It is," Eddy answered back just as short and hurried off, with Jimmy closely behind. Whatever that glow was, it definitely was a Stand; it was too large to be an insect or—god forbid it—a bird, and none of the insects (besides maybe fireflies) or birds he knew glowed so brightly it was easily distinguishable from the daylight. It flew too fast to be any ordinary creature but he was mostly sure it wasn't some kind of robot.

When the shimmer of pink wove through the queue of students straggling from school with none of them the wiser, the duo was sure now; that is a Stand, and already they have to deal with one of the arrow's newly gifted Stand user.

Much to their horror and confusion, however, more of the glowing Stands quickly emerged from various objects by the road. Trash cans, gumball machines, underneath cars, light poles even. More and more glows emerged from practically everywhere like horribly luminous fireflies to the point a small crowd about as wide as the sidewalk and a few meters long were running towards a neighborhood, keeping ahead of them easily even when the boys pushed their legs and lungs to the limit.

The Stand colony seemed to be slowing down, but Eddy and Jimmy were too winded it didn't make a difference. Eddy's heart jumped slightly when he recognized the neighborhood they were entering and the street sign confirmed it for him.

Prodigialis Street.

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **"Jack, isn't this a little too soon for a next chapter? There are only two days left until the polls close and—" Yeah I know, it's just that when I checked in on the votes, you wanted both a fighting chapter _and_ a comedy chapter. So I closed the poll early and now you have this! A We-Fuck-Around-With-Kevin-Because-Most-of-Us-Don't-Like-Him chapter! Hope you like Eddy and Jimmy trolling with Kevin, it was kinda fun to write tbh haha. Next chapter, we'll look into the identity of this Stand user and then let's see how Jimmy and Eddy handle the situation. Also, just for shits and giggles, give me some copyright-friendly names for the Stands we have right now, okay? (don't worry we'll eventually have an Eddy clobbering the everloving shit out of Kevin chapter eventually, just wait)**

 **Until next time!**


	10. Acheron, Part 1

**QUICK JACK'S NOTE:**

 **So I noticed a few of you are concerned about the story and that it might turn into a bashfic. To put all of your concerns to rest, I'll say with absolute certainty, NO, this won't turn into a stupid Kevin bashfic.**

 **Now that I got that over and done with, enjoy Acheron Part 1!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Acheron, Part 1  
**

"Hurry Eddy, the user is probably right around the bend!" Jimmy cried, voice heavily toned in exhaustion despite his words.

Eddy couldn't make out even a legible sentence, just wheezes that sounded vaguely like the words he's trying to convey. In front of them, the small Colony marched off towards the canopy of the other woods, where they both generally presumed the user was lurking; why else would all of them gather in one spot if their master wasn't there?

Somehow, none of the units, not even a single one of them, had even noticed them yet. They were so blindly devoted to the task their master had given them none of them were even giving them the slightest amount of their attention. Actually, did their master even know they existed? Or even gave them an order? They were doing their tasks so blindly, it was like the user just gave them a hint of what they were meant to do and they took it to the logical extreme. Is Automatic-slash-Colony Stands even possible?

The possibilities of Stands can wait for another time, right now, it's worrying about the user just to make sure that at least they know where the arrow is.

As the gaggle of glowing pink Stand units came to a stop, Eddy felt like his lungs would rupture. God when was the last time he ran that hard? Besides fleeing from furious cul-de-sac neighbors baying for both his blood and their money of course. The colony came to a halt in a part of the unfamiliar woods and the duo of boys was more than happy to stop and catch their breaths.

Eddy couldn't even believe it. The arrow was circulating in the school for like, what, three days? And two out of that three days, barely anybody was in the building for the arrow to seek out and pierce. What are the odds of the arrow immediately turning their classmates into a Stand user just as the school day began? Eddy didn't want to believe it. There were more possible Stand users in the school than he realized, and he felt tremors reverberating up his spines like unpleasant pins of horror.

Jimmy was similarly disbelieving; how could he been so dumb to throw the arrow into the school, where so many curious kids could stumble on it and prick themselves, turning them into a Stand user. Like unknowingly throwing water onto a grease fire, he accidentally made a problem the Eds and Rolf trying to fix worse.

The colony of Stands filed themselves into a more orderly formation and Eddy was mildly curious. Where's the user? Why are they gathering here of all places?

While Eddy was scanning around their surrounding, Jimmy was nervous. Why was the surrounding so unpleasantly familiar? And then it hit him. It was where he and Eddy brawled over the possession of the arrow last week, and the aftermath was still clear as day; if the disturbingly detailed fist-shaped indentations, relatively fresh footprints, and multiple fractured branches were any indication.

Oh gosh, he hoped it wasn't private property. As Jimmy stood there, despairing over the damage he indirectly caused, Eddy angrily pulled on the sleeve of his shirt, hissing, "Fluffy. C'mon! Somebody's coming!" When the third-grader wasn't responding, Eddy tugged on his sleeve harder and whispered louder into his ear until he finally responded back. The two hurriedly scrambled towards their right and hid behind a shrub as footsteps that were previously subdued grew into quickened pacing.

The figure who they assumed were the user zoomed by their hiding spot like a small human torpedo. Whoever they were, they wore a pink dress with hints of red and a few stray strands of marigold hair, at least confirming the fact that the user is a girl.

"Ah Acheron, you guys are amazing," a feminine young voice giggled from the enclosure. If that didn't solidify the fact that whoever it was was a girl, Eddy doesn't know what will.

"I wonder how I got you guys though," the voice grew faintly introspective, "weird how I only got you today and you went off and did things I told you like you're my personal butler robot or something. Super weird. Maybe that pointy thingy that cut me has something to do with it?"

"The arrow!" Jimmy screeched silently into Eddy's ear, "She's talking about the arrow!"

"Now of all time, you're paying attention?!" Eddy hissed back quietly.

"Hmm, I wonder if the sharp thing is still inside the school, it would be cool to look at the thing that probably gave me you guys," the girl hummed.

"Should we show her that we're like her?" Jimmy whispered. Eddy shrugged, "No harm in it I guess, would make things a lot more complicated if she knows we're here and wonder why we can see her Stand."

As they made to stand up, an averagely-sized bundle of the units—did she called it Acheron?—swerved around the entrance of the large enclosure and on sight, split up into halves and whirled around their necks, grabbing the fabric of their collar and with a small struggle, lifted them up into the air.

Eddy gave Jimmy a mildly bewildered glance who returned it with a similarly confused stare; were they louder than they thought? Slowly yet surely, the units hovered to a halt as the Acheron-covered ground parted beneath like a curtain, prompting the units that were holding them by the collar to drop them like a bomb onto their backside.

The boys grunted in discomfort and instinctively dusted the dirt off of their clothes as the user of Acheron came close, making the boys stare up at her appearance as she stared back.

A dusty pink dress draped over her short and willowy build with a red ribbon near the hem and a white frilly collar. Her marigold locks fell loosely around her head beyond her shoulders and barely skimming her waist with only a single red ribbon tying her hair back. Her bright green eyes stared at Eddy so straight and direct like she was trying to lobotomize him through her vision. Judging from her appearance, Eddy would have guessed she was in second grade, two grades beneath Jimmy and four grades beneath himself.

With how Jimmy was staring at her with brows furrowed, Eddy wagered he recognized her, at least in passing. They continued to stare at each other uncomfortably, like daring one another to speak first and break the stifling atmosphere like shoving a vase off a shelf.

And her Stand didn't make things easy, either: they were glowing so friggin' brightly that it was hard to keep his eyes opened without narrowing them, and they kept moving to and fro like a rocking chair like they were indecisive in whether they should stay still or not.

The (partially) thriving environment around them felt dull and stifling like a summer heat despite the season. The canopy of leaves above opened out to an ethereal blue sky with barely any clouds overhead, but still, it felt cramped and restricted. Eddy offhandedly wondered if it was because of the presence of the colony encircling them, which neatly segued to the elephant in the room; her Stand.

It was obvious that it was a colony; a horribly vivid one, but a Colony Stand nonetheless. If he squinted at the units at the right light, he could make out more details. They were small to the point of sitting easily in his hand and vaguely doll-like with wings protruding from the back.

Eddy didn't know what gave it away; whether it was because he visibly turned to look at the group, or because he squinted at the little figures filling the enclosure, but the girl made a tiny, barely audible gasp and said, "Can you...can you guys see my Acheron?"

* * *

Jimmy felt anticipation weighed his stomach down like a lead weight. Somehow, the younger girl managed to detect their presence and had carried them out of their hiding spots rather literally with her Stand. When he got a better view of the girl—despite how uncomfortable and awkward it was—he felt like he should recognize her but every time he felt like he came close to remembering her, his memory slid away like water on a hot pan.

As his memories gradually came back to him, the blonde girl made a small gasp and said, "Can you...can you guys see my Acheron?"

Jimmy's head snapped up like a rubber band and stared at the girl, flabbergasted. They didn't even say anything yet she already somehow pieced together the fact that they can see her Stand, what gave it away?

Eddy connected eye contact with him and gave him an idle shrug. Jimmy wanted to groan, figures.

"Yeah, we can see your Stand alright. Or in your case, Stand with a plural _s_. We have them too, see?" To demonstrate, Eddy summoned Smooth Criminal who stared at the girl and gave her a small wave. Jimmy also summoned Carousel just to prove he is another Stand user like them.

The girl stared wide-eyed at the two boys like they just admitted they own a free-range unicorn ranch. Then she smiled, smiled so widely you can practically hear it.

"Awesome!" The blonde girl shouted. Eddy and Jimmy quickly hushed her, "Awesome..."

* * *

In a small cafe, the temporary trio of Stand users enjoyed a cup of fruit sundae Eddy had (reluctantly) foot the bill for. As the late afternoon sun cheerfully shined down on the shopping district, quiet but sweet small conversation was made as the two boys get to know the small girl better.

"So, what's your name?" Eddy asked.

"Oh, um, it's Febrie. Febrie February," Febrie said politely, "What about you guys?"

 _Talk about an alliterative name,_ Eddy thought but responded, "It's Eddy. Short and sweet, don't forget it."

"And my name is Jimmy," Jimmy said kindly, "What grade are you in?"

Febrie hesitated for a second, "I'm in Mr. Cathro's second-grade class. What about you guys?"

"Mr. Boutilier's sixth-grade class," Eddy responded as Jimmy said, "Mr. Klassen's fourth-grade class. Anyways, Febrie, how did you attained your Stand?"

"My what now?" Febrie responded back dumbly.

"Oh. Your _Acheron_ I think you called it?" Jimmy scratched his head, "That's a Stand."

"Oh. Well, I'm not super sure if I always had it but ever since this green-and-silver thingy cut me across my cheek when I went off for a water break, Acheron just came to me when I wanted something," Febrie explained and when she said _green-and-silver thingy_ she made a motion of an object flying through the air to gesticulate.

Eddy and Jimmy's eyes went wide. If they weren't mistaken, that was the arrow they were looking for!

"The green-silver thingy, where did it came from? Where did it go?" Jimmy asked hurriedly. Febrie hummed, "Where did you come from Cotton-eye Joe—Err. I don't really remember, I was too distracted by the cut to worry about the sharp thingy, I only remembered the color of the thingy and that it was long. Maybe it flew out of the window?"

Eddy and Jimmy felt their chest collapsed with disappointment but a glimmer of hope still remained. At least they know for sure that the arrow was confined to the school, and being a mostly inanimate object, shouldn't move beyond the school campus unless some stupid grade-schooler picked it up out of curiosity. Oh god, the thought already made Eddy pessimistic but he quickly shook it off.

Jimmy stirred his sundae around bored as a stone as multiple cars zoomed by, with a few coming to a stop and adults emerging from their vehicles. Some were teachers he recognized but a vast majority of them were either teenager he had a premeditated dislike for or adults that he could really care less about.

The shopping district slowly and gradually grew in numbers as teenagers zipped in and out of cafes for a quick pick-me-up, adults entering a few grocery stores for food or teachers entering school supplies for the next day's class. Jimmy quietly tuned them out as he finished the last of his sundae under the afternoon sun.

It was pleasant. It really is; in between bouts of torturing himself with brawling Eddy or Ed's Stand and cramming as much information as he can before tests came around knocking on the class's door, it was a nice change of pace to enjoy a more simpler time of being a child their age, even if Jimmy will inevitably be pulled back into the maelstrom of stress that is his new day-to-day life.

As Jimmy placed his now empty cup of sundae onto the cafe table, Eddy stood up to the register and reluctantly forked over a few dollar bills, internally regretting the fact that he had offered to treat them to ice cream. Ugh, why didn't he treat them to jawbreakers instead?

Eddy reached into his wallet to pull out a coin to fully pay for the price of three sundaes, but when he reaches up to give the cashier the coin, a wasp buzzed by his hand, no doubt attracted by the residual sugar leftover from his desert. Given the fact he knows wasps inclined to sting anything that dared to invade their personal space, coupled with the unpleasant memory involving his house after midnight and a wasp lured into their home by his brother, Eddy's instinct could only do one thing.

Scream.

A cacophony of high-pitched voices echoed throughout the cafe like twisted screams of pixies. So many things happened all at once Eddy was genuinely surprised the bug hadn't made a move yet; the cashier immediately dove under the counter, Jimmy scrambled around in place like he was Irish dancing while Febrie back-tackled out through the main entrance. Eddy felt his heart pounded rapidly like drums played by a furious thunder god, his blood felt like it was substituted with molten lava and his vision grew blurry like looking through frosted glass.

"Smooth Criminal!" Eddy screamed in terror. The muscular golden Stand swiftly emerged from the yellow boy and quickly pummeled the general location the wasp was hovering at.

 _ **"Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching!"** _Smooth Criminal bellowed furiously—was that fright he can hear in his voice?—as a flurry of fists flew through the air like bullets. The poor insect didn't know what hit it, one minute it was hovering in the air just surrounded by terrified kids only for a barrage of punches pulverized it into bits with insect guts flailing out.

Eddy panted furiously as his nerves calmed themselves down and his adrenaline slowly dipped back to dormancy. His heart still convulsed uncomfortably but it was far tamer than it was moments prior. Jimmy's legs still trembled like the strings of a plucked harp while Febrie slowly re-entered the cafe, still unsure if it was safe or not.

The cashier slowly rose from the counter hesitantly, "I have no idea what just happened, but know that the sundaes are on the house this time. As thanks for getting rid of that stupid insect."

Eddy gave the cashier a single nod and shakily stumbled out of the shop, steps unbalanced like hell and he looked like he would stumble over even a speck up dust. While wasps are nowhere near as bad as Stand users, PTSD can be a real pain in the butt that can make something as non-negligible like a rock crippling.

Sometimes, Eddy wished his brother wasn't so malicious sometimes. He didn't know why he bullied him so much, at least before he moved out, whether it was because he's the youngest, was pampered far more, simply favored more by his mother and father or just a combination of all three, Eddy genuinely had no idea. When Eddy grew old enough to walk on his feet and make out a coherent sentence, that's when the tricks and bullying started. It started out simple, like bugs in his bed and eating his food then lied straight to his face about it. Then it grew more severe and more deliberate, such as sabotaging his cobbled-together scams, framing him for serious misdeeds until it grew to Eddy's brother physically toying with him.

Eddy felt his legs grew weak as unpleasant memories of _Un_ _cle_ reemerged from the backstage of his mind. Apparently, Eddy's Brother justified it with the admittedly flimsy excuse of, _"The world doesn't play nice, Pipsqueak. You gotta learn how to take its punishment and throw it back at it."_ And Eddy being young and impressionable, took most of those lessons to heart. Well, if there's at least one good thing that came out from the years of torment, Eddy can endure far more punishment than his brother ever can.

Well maybe he shouldn't be too pessimistic about his brother (even though it's really hard not to), there are bound to be at least a few moments of genuine bonding and levity in between those moments of pain and agony, as few and far-between those are. But frankly, those are so early and blurry in Eddy's memories he wasn't even sure if they're either real and genuine or just something his mind made up.

Eddy sighed; there he goes again, being all sentimental and crap about someone who tormented him for as far back as he can remember. Who knew having a close brush with a stupid insect could dredge up old memories and turn someone into a retrospective idiot?

The yellow-clad pre-teen shove a hand into his pockets and pulled out his wallet, but as he made to insert the refunded bills into his wallet, Eddy hissed; he dropped the quarter earlier when the wasp tried to land on his hand. If there's one thing he hates more than Kevin, his brother, the Kankers and losing to anyone, it's dropping money and losing them.

But as he turned around to retrieve his fallen quarter, he saw Jimmy and Febrie walking up to him, with one of her Acheron units holding a quarter in its arms.

Eddy sighed in relief, "Thanks for getting that for me Blondie."

"No problemo!" Febrie replied, apparently unbothered by her new nickname. As Acheron flew up to Eddy and deposited the quarter in hand, Jimmy piped up next to her, "Hey Febrie? What's your Stand's power?"

The girl grew confused, "Whaddya mean?"

"Like, does Acheron as a whole have any particularly special powers?" Jimmy elaborated, "Like how my Stand can turn things and people into stuffed toys and Eddy's friend have a Stand that can mix things to create something new. What can your Stand do?"

The girl made an O-shape with her mouth and tapped her chin, deep in thought, "I dunno to be honest. I only had my Stand for half a day, so I didn't really have a chance to explore what Acheron can do."

"But what did you have your Stand did earlier today? Why did you have all of them went out to the ends of Peach Creek to come back with nothing?"

"Oh, they didn't come back with nothing," Febrie said cheerfully, "Follow me and I'll show you what they came back with."

The blonde girl trekked forwards towards her neighborhood while Eddy and Jimmy shot each other a glance. Giving a mild shrug, they followed Febrie out of curiosity.

As they entered Prodigialis Street and into Febrie's house, the girl lead them into her vibrant blue room and told them to wait near the door. Febrie reached into her drawer and rummaged around until she pulled one, two, three, ten containers filled with pennies and quarters.

Eddy felt like his eyes would explode from disbelief while Jimmy gazed at the money, mouthing out the words he wanted to say even though no sound came out. Febrie had a minor smug look on her face, "When I realized I could control Acheron whenever I want, I had them scour the entire Peach Creek for any loose change anyone had dropped. From underneath trash cans, to the creek, anywhere honestly. Even during class."

"How did people not notice coins randomly jumping around to your house? Stands can only be seen by people like us y'know," Eddy stated, trying to squash the urge to pilfer the coins Febrie collected.

"They were discreet," Febrie assured, "Not a lot of people are going to see the coins, Acheron made sure of that."

"But how didn't we see the coins Acheron picked up? We were chasing it for crying out loud!"

"Well, can you see what Acheron even looked like through the light? Even I have a hard time seeing the coins they picked up."

Eddy didn't have any more questions left in him, but he kept shooting longing glances at the boxes sitting on Febrie's bed. The Colony Stand user apparently noticed his extended stares and said casually, "You know, you can have one of them if you want. That applies to Jimmy too."

Eddy snapped his head up hopefully, "Really?!"

"Yeah. I still have eight of them left and I would still have more money than you," Febrie said casually, "Besides, I don't even know what I would do with them anyways. If I need to make up for the loss, I can just have Acheron scour Lemon Brook instead."

Eddy felt like his grin would tear his jaw off of his face, "Febrie February, I think this is going to be a wonderful friendship."

* * *

 **STAND NAME: Acheron**

 **STAND MASTER: Febrie February**

 **Destructive Power: ?  
Durability: ?  
Range: ?  
Speed: ?  
Precision: ?  
Development Potential: ?  
**

 **Ability: ?**

* * *

Eddy happily walked home with a box of coins in his arms, cradling it like he was carrying a small child. The coins inside made a cheery jingle every time he bounded in the air, and to his ears, there couldn't be any better sound. The cerulean blue sky started to fade into a light orange in hue as he marched his way back to Rethink Avenue with a joyful smile.

Jimmy had stayed behind Febrie's house, just to acquaint himself with her more. Eddy saw no fault in it and was frankly, happy he was expanding his group of friends recently. Even if Ed told him Sarah had taken a chill pill more often nowadays, it would be beneficial for all of them if Jimmy can get comfortable with more than one person.

As the Stand user unlocked the front door's lock, he heard Edd lightly coughing behind him, "Hello Eddy. What's that in your arms?"

"Huh?" Eddy turned around to see Edd with a mildly expectant look in his eyes, eyes locked onto the plastic container neatly sandwiched in his arms.

"Oh, this?" Eddy shook the coin container around cheerfully, "Just a gift from a new friend."

Edd rose an eyebrow with the perfect amount of skepticism, " _New friend?_ " He parroted.

"Yeah, new friend." Eddy said slowly as though Edd were mentally challenged, "Jimmy and I met her after school ended and she gave this to us as a sign of a new friendship or some sappy gunk like that."

"From what you said, she sounds like a rather amicable young lady," Edd chuckled, "What's her name and grade?"

"Febrie February, second-grade. She also said she's in Mr. Cathro's class I think."

"Febrie February? I know her," Edd remarked, "she came in today in the nurse's office complaining of a cut on her cheek."

"Oh, she did say the arrow cut her when she went off for a water break," Eddy said, morbidly casual, "I guess that makes some sense."

The intellectual's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, "And just in case you ask if she has the arrow, the answer's no. She said she was too focused on the cut to notice the arrow."

"Drats," cursed Edd, "I was so hopeful that this incident can be put to rest this time. I suppose we're just being too optimistic."

"Hey hey hey!" Eddy slung an arm around Edd's shoulders, "Since when did it hurt to see the future with rose-colored lenses? As long as we push on, we'll get that arrow back in no time."

Edd smiled, "Not like you to be so optimistic. Are you feeling alright?"

"Oh I'm fine and dandy, Sockhead!" the boy grinned widely, "Never been better!"

As Eddy backed into his house, Edd merely scratched the skin under his hat in mild confusion. Who knew money was so effective in turning Eddy into a slightly more tolerable person?

The short boy hurried into his bedroom and slammed the door behind him as he dumped the coins onto his bed. With the giggles of an elated imp, Eddy hurriedly jumped on his bed and counted out the pennies, quarters, dimes, and nickels Febrie had generously given him.

When he was done totaling up the number of coins in the box many hours later, he felt like his heart would explode from pure glee.

* * *

When the next day came around, Eddy had more vested interest in Febrie than he would like to admit. That girl has a Stand, sure, whatever. It's the possible uses with Acheron that got him so hooked. Think of the possibilities! The profit! The pranks even!

When the bus came to a stop in front of their school, Eddy immediately sought out the Acheron Stand user when he got off the bus's steps before their breakfast period ends. While he had no idea where the girl was, at the very least, she must be in the cafeteria; after all, that's where most of the students congregate before class starts. Unless Febrie was a club member of any kind, which complicates things further, given how more often than not club members usually have a meeting for most of breakfast.

Eddy strode towards the cafeteria with a jaunty spring in his steps, opening the cafeteria door with a grunt. Students with ages ranging from five to thirteen roamed the lunchroom like working ants, filling the room with busy chatter. As Eddy scanned the room around for blonde girl, Jimmy's voice called out for him.

"Eddy! Over here!"

The boy turned to his left and saw Jimmy along with Febrie occupying a lunch table, lunch trays in hand. Eddy went and seated himself next to Jimmy as the boy finish up a stray conversation with Febrie.

"How are you this morning?"

"Fine, just like any other morning so far," Eddy sighed as he combed through his hair, "how are you guys holding up?"

"Just great!" Febrie responded cheerfully, "Me and Jimmy talked while you weren't here, and he came up with a great idea!"

Eddy leaned in, interested.

"Well, given how Febrie manages to have her Stand collect all of those loose change earlier, we thought why not pool our collected money with each other?" Jimmy proposed, "That way, if we need some pocket money to buy something, we could just draw a bit from the pile and then add the leftover back into the pile!"

"Sounds like a good idea, but who's going to keep a hold of the money?"

"Well, everyone! To make sure none of us have a complete monopoly over the money pile, we could just cycle it through each of us every two days, so no one would completely control the pile."

"And us?" Eddy said, "If we let Acheron do most of the work, then Febrie technically own most of the money because she gathered the most of it."

"You did bring up a good point," Jimmy conceded, "How about, we search for spots that has a lot of coins in our spare time like Febrie? I'll use Carousel to scour out any potential gold mines while you use your Smooth Criminal for any heavy work, so we can avoid a repeat of the gum-stuck-to-the-quarter incident."

"I have no idea what we're talking about anymore, but I like the sound of it!" Febrie smiled.

"So it's a deal?" Jimmy asked, a bold smile on his face.

"Yeah!" Eddy and Febrie cheered as the girl summoned Acheron and set them to the task at hand.

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **So, yeah! Whaddya think of Febrie and Acheron? Great? Meh? Let me know what you think! And don't worry, I don't plan on turning this arc into a repeat of Harvest. And I'm not going to turn Febrie into the next Shigechi and I won't turn Acheron into a Harvest expy.**

 **Oh, and a few things. Do you guys want me to make a JiU supplementary fic? Like it'll have recaps of certain arcs, it'll go more into details about Stands and my possible ideas.**

 **Two, I'm considering including a JoJo characters into the mix, but I don't really know who. Tell me who should visit Peach Creek, and include story reasons why. Part 3 to 5 is fair game, like Jotaro, Rohan, Josuke, Okuyasu, Giorno, et cetera. Just keep in mind that JiU exist in a universe where Jolyne won, so no Part 7 and 8 characters (except for maybe Funny Valentine).**

 **And that should be all! Until next time!**


	11. Acheron, Part 2

**Chapter 10: Acheron, Part 2**

It was a particularly dreary afternoon later that day. Despite the fact it was around 4 p.m., the sky was overcast and grey, and from the sounds and how harsh the winds were recently, Eddy would bet a jawbreaker it would rain either sometime next morning or even tonight.

Eddy walked towards the creek by himself, backpack in hand and a thoughtful look on his face. While the clouds slowly rolled over Peach Creek, Jimmy had already found a hot spot of quarters somewhere near the mouth of the creek and had signified the discover through Carousel to the two kids. Since most if not all of the coins were fairly deep underwater, they both had figured out a fair plan that would be fair to everyone.

Given how so many of the coins were resting at the creek bed and in sizable piles, it would be more practical to get Smooth Criminal to scoop up the pile resting at the riverbed with its hands. While Jimmy would use Carousel to scout out any similar piles nearby, Acheron would pick up the coins Smooth Criminal had deposited near Eddy and deliver it towards Jimmy's house, reason being that Eddy and Febrie both mutually agreed that Jimmy would be the most trustworthy person among them to keep watch over the coins they had collected.

It was a simple but straightforward and efficient plan, plotted in such a way to ensure no one would do more work than the other, just in case if any one of them wanted to get a bigger share of the loot and play the, "I did more work," card. They all would tally up their profit once they were ready to give it a rest, split it equally then divide it into equal thirds, giving each third to each of them as their pay for the day.

They had no idea what they were going to do with the other half of the money, the half that was left unused. The most commonly accepted way to use it is to simply use it as a backup source of money, just in case any of them needed to buy anything but didn't have enough money. There were still ideas thrown in discussions, yes, but they were just that, ideas. Until any of them could come up with a particularly brilliant concept, that money reserve will have to be a reserve.

Arriving at the creek, Eddy stared at his watch. _**4:27 p.m.** _shined back at him in calculator green. Just a few meters ahead of them, he could see Jimmy near the creek, peering into the water as Carousel surveyed around the perimeter of the stream. The fourth-grader turned around, "Oh, hi Eddy."

Eddy gave him an acknowledging nod, "Hey there. Where's Febrie?"

"Went home early to finish up extra math homework," Jimmy answered, placing a hand near the gentle current, "She won't be here. But she sent Acheron towards us to help us get the coins to my house."

"Hmm," Eddy hummed while he summoned Smooth Criminal, dipping its hand into the stream, "Wonder why the creek has so many coins in it."

"Well, I learned from my history class that Peach Creek—the main one—is kind of like a local attraction. Back in the days of when Peach Creek was first being colonized, there was a rumor that if you throw any coin into the main river, you should get a good bounty and business if you did so. From the looks of it, the legend still lives on."

"So it's like the Trevi Fountain," Eddy nodded, "Good to know."

With a rousing _**Ka-ching**_ , Smooth Criminal swiftly plunged an open fist into the creek and just as quickly withdrew a large handful of sopping wet quarters and dimes. Eddy grinned widely as he laid his eyes on the coins and even Smooth Criminal had a similar smile on its face. Immediately, five Acheron units dove into the water and retrieved a few stray coins Smooth Criminal missed while the remaining few hundred units set out to escort the coins towards Jimmy's home.

It was a quiet sort of afternoon; the two people that were there in the creek were so invested in their task, they didn't feel like making any side-conversation to even pass the time. The only ambient sounds there were was the sound of water splashing, the sky rumbling above them, the occasional _**Ka-ching!** _from Smooth Criminal and the clinking of coins as they fell onto the grass.

It was honestly kinda boring if Eddy admits.

"Hey, Fluffy?"

"Yes?"

"What do you wanna do with the money anyway?"

Jimmy mused, "Well, it'll be nice to save up some money in general anyway, just in case you need to buy something, you could always have a reliable source of money just in case you don't have enough on hand. But if you're talking about anything I want in specifically, then it'll be tarot cards."

"Tah-roh cards? What's that?"

"Well, in short, they're a deck of 78 cards used for divination. There are four suits—think of diamonds, hearts, clubs and spades—and 22 trumps."

"Divination? Like in fortune telling? Never really pegged you as a superstitious type."

"Well, it's not like I'm superstitious, more like I'm intrigued by their concept and design." Jimmy admitted, "But then again, with all the insane events going on in Peach Creek, perhaps it wouldn't be that bad of an idea to pick up a deck myself. Maybe if Rolf knows about the tarot, he could teach me."

"Are you kidding me?" Eddy couldn't help but release a snort, "That guy has so many weird customs and traditions I wouldn't be too surprised if he knows how to read your fortune telling cards."

Jimmy shrugged, "You have a point there. I wonder if there are any Stands that are named after the tarot?"

"Pretty likely if you ask me, though the names would probably be kinda silly, like...uh...what kind of trumps does tarot have again?"

"The Star, The Chariot, Justice..." Jimmy counted.

"Yeah! If there's a Stand out there with a name like, uh, I dunno, Star Platinum, I will have Ed eat my cut of the money." Eddy chuckled as Smooth Criminal relocated itself and plunged an open fist into the water.

"Sounds like a rather cool name I think," Jimmy hummed and directed his Stand further down the creek.

The next few minutes were spent in silence as the two boys collected quarters in the creek. A steady line of Acheron units marched back and forth the creek with coins in their arms, while a smaller squad of units remained behind to collect any stray quarters Eddy missed.

The stout boy stared above him as the activity continued around him. The sky started to darken into an ominous hue of gray and white, mixing together like beaten eggs in a mixing bowl. The clouds practically blotted the sun above out, turning it into an indistinct mass of harsh white. The mass of rolling clouds above was heavy with rain and at any moment looked like it would dump gallons of rainwater onto the two boys.

Two minutes passed and the first raindrop splashed onto Eddy's forehead. At first, he didn't really give it much thought—it was just one dumb water drop after all—but then another hit the water's surface. Then another hit the creek and then another one crashed against Jimmy's hair. And in just half a minute, a full-blown storm had developed, creating a series of plips that was audible even from the cul-de-sac.

 _ **パタパタパタパタ**_

"Holy jeez, it's been a minute and it's already pouring hard," Eddy said, backpack overhead.

"I don't really want to get sopping wet right now, should we call it a day?" Jimmy asked, with a single nod as his answer.

Jimmy quickly grabbed his backpack and held it over his head, rushing towards his home in Rethink Avenue before recalling his Carousel. Eddy stared around; there was still a pile of coins left unattended near the water's side, but he was sure Acheron would eventually pick them all up and put them in Jimmy's house. He couldn't be there any longer anyways: the grass was already growing slick from the rain, mud was stirring up from the water and he was sure the storm would make the creek's water level rise up a few inches.

Quickly turning tail and running away, Eddy hurried underneath the branches of the trees and through the moist leaves of the low hanging branches. The leaves slapped him in the face and it only served to annoy him; god, why do the leaves have to hang so low? Especially during a rainstorm like this one.

Emerging from the soaked woods and down the lane, Eddy was sure he would slip like a clumsy guy in an ice skating rink, but through some miraculous divine intervention, Eddy was still on his feet, practically gliding over the dirt like a seasoned rollerblader.

Leaving the lane and turning a corner, already Eddy could see the result of the storm despite the short amount of time it started. Puddles of rain of varying sizes were scattered all over the cul-de-sac's pavement, partially reflecting the turbulent sky above while rippling like the ocean. Some of the pools were even streaming down the road and into the storm drain like a miniature river. As Eddy hurried to his house's front door and fumbled with the house keys, a loud clap of thunder rumbled above, making Eddy groan inside; not only it was a rainstorm, it was also a thunderstorm. Yay...

Slamming the door behind him, Eddy combed through his wind-tousled hair and found it was, much to his displeasure, rain-soaked. As Eddy went off towards his closet and picked out his clothes, water dripped down his head like a waterfall and splashed onto his pristine floor, making him grimace.

Holding a clean stack of clothes in his hands, the boy entered his bathroom and commanded Smooth Criminal to turn on the shower. The welcoming hissing sound of the showerhead beckoned Eddy as he gently placed his set of clothes onto the closed toilet seat.

* * *

When Eddy turned the shower off, steam practically poured out from the shower like a heavy curtain of fog. He grabbed a bathing towel and dabbed at the remaining moisture left on his skin then wrapped the towel around his waist, ensuring it was secure and won't slip off. When Eddy looked up from the towel, much to his surprise and confusion, Smooth Criminal floated in front of him with his clean set of clothes, holding it out to him with a giddy smile, almost looking like he was eager to please.

Eddy uncomfortably rubbed the back of his neck, having no idea how to react. On one hand, it was nice to have a Stand, because it meant he basically has a personal bodyguard/butler that he can summon at any time, but since a Stand is also a reflection of his soul, Eddy had no idea if it meant subconsciously he was a doormat, he was really nice at heart or more preferably, Smooth Criminal has some sort of mind of his own and Eddy was inclined to believe the latter.

"Uh, thanks Smooth Criminal," Eddy thanked awkwardly, "at ease, I guess?"

In a mist of golden dust, Smooth Criminal disappeared back into his psyche as his clothes flopped onto the floor with a quiet _thump_. Eddy sighed and picked up the clothes then re-entered his bedroom, laying the shirt and pants onto his round king bed.

As the rain pounded furiously out onto Eddy's bedroom window, the boy quickly changed into his clothes as the sounds of the rain echoed throughout his house. Even after a solid thirty minute afternoon soak, the rain showed no sign of letting up and actually looked like it was getting worse. The ferocity of the rain actually concerned Eddy to some level, making him worry that the window might crack from all the constant downpour.

Shaking his head to clear himself of his anxiety, Eddy pondered if he should check on Jimmy and the money pile. Shrugging his shoulders, seeing no faults in checking on Jimmy, the boy quickly grabbed an umbrella and a waterproof coat, double checking his pockets to ensure he has his house keys. After he was satisfied with his own pocket check, he opened the door just as a clap of thunder appeared.

"Jeez, what's this, a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure crossover or a horror fanfiction?" Eddy grumbled, "Make up your damn mind author."

Shaking his head to clear any annoying thoughts of fourth wall breaking, Eddy opened up his umbrella to shield his head from rainwater. Even before taking five whole strides from his house, the rain already pounded viciously down upon his umbrella, making the waterproof fabric of his umbrella dipping beneath the rain. The wind blew violently in the storm and if it wasn't for Smooth Criminal manifesting its hand over Eddy's own to help him grip the object, he was sure that the umbrella would have been torn from his hand by the wind and blown to the kingdom to come.

Eddy walked across the cul-de-sac as the storm continued on, raindrops rippling puddles of water. As he made his way to Jimmy's however, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the front door of Jonny's house creaked open and the bald boy stepped out into the rain, Plank in hand and both in a rain poncho. Jonny evidently noticed his gaze on him and shouted, "Hi there, Eddy!"

"Hey there, Melonhead! Where are ya going in this ungodly storm?" Eddy asked, practically shouting over the rumbling tempest.

"Going to check on the woods' critter!" Jonny replied, voice equally loud, "You know, to make sure their homes aren't being flooded and to provide them with some extra food to help them with the rain!"

Even when he wasn't a great fan of animals, Eddy could understand the sentiment, "Well go on, Baldy! Make sure they aren't drowning from this storm! Like seriously good God, when's the last time it rained this hard?!"

Jonny nodded and hurried off towards the general direction of the woods, braving the elements as turned around the corner. Eddy quickly hurried out of the storm and in front of Jimmy's front door, because standing in the rain all day asking to be soaked is the last thing he wanted to do.

Pressing the doorbell with his pointer finger, Eddy patiently waited as a quiet echo of Jimmy's voice said, "I'm coming! Give me a minute!"

As the rain furiously continued just behind him, if Eddy could screw his ears up to hear something other than the pounding of the storm, the faint pitter-patter of tiny feet could be heard coming from inside the house before the door creaked to an open, revealing a mildly confused Jimmy with his head in a shower cap and his entire body shrouded in a light periwinkle bathrobe.

"Eddy! What on earth are you doing in the rain? Come in, come in!" Standing back a few feet to allow Eddy entrance, the short boy marched into the house with abandon, rain slicking off of his raincoat with every step he took, wetting the floor beneath him much to Jimmy's displeasure.

"Shoes off," Jimmy commanded, pointing at the cream-colored shoe shelf conveniently to the front door's right.

Eddy sighed. Always with the shoes.

Jimmy headed back upstairs to change into a more appropriate change of clothes, and while he went off to do so, Eddy mindlessly kicked off his rainboots and aimed it at the general direction of the shoe shelf while sliding out of his raincoat and dropping it to his side.

From outside, Eddy could hear another clap of lightning as the storm raged on while Jimmy finishes cleaning himself up. With how intense the downpour is, Eddy would bet a dime at least one tree somewhere would see their doom. Finally, Jimmy descended downstairs with a refreshed smile curling his lips, well-groomed curls bouncing with every step he took down the stairs.

"Eddy, you never did tell me why you were here. Why did you brave this unseasonable storm to talk to me?" Jimmy asked, fiddling with the curls of his hair.

"Well, do you wanna divide the coins all up early? Because I'm kind of impatient—"

"Who doesn't know that?" Jimmy murmured under his breath.

"What? Anyways, because this rain is taking forever to end, why not split the money early?" Eddy suggested. Jimmy grew a reproachful frown.

"Eddy, if you're thinking of slighting Febrie of her fair cut of the money—"

"It's not like that," Eddy denied, waving his hand rapidly, "let's be real here, Febrie is like, a solid seven years old, or eight even. And what kind of self-respecting, common-sense parents would let their eight-year-old kid walk out in the middle of the storm of the friggin' century, umbrella or no umbrella?"

Jimmy bit his lips, still tentative about Eddy's suggestion. Shoulders slumping down and heaving out a long sigh, "Well, given your tendency to rush things, I guess it would be a good idea to sort out the money today. This torrential downpour doesn't show any signs of stopping anyways, so I doubt Febrie can come and help us come and count the coins."

"Great!" Eddy said, satisfied smile on his face, "So where did those little things put the money?"

Jumping to his feet, Eddy turned and swiveled his head around like he was trying to sniff the money out. Given his near-revering attitude towards monetary objects of any kind, Jimmy wouldn't be too surprised if he somehow smelled the coins' location.

"Upstairs, in a crate in the corner of my room," Jimmy stated, leading the eager Eddy up the stairs. He reached out and opened the door and much to Eddy's glee, a mound of quarters and pennies and dimes rested inside a medium-sized plastic crate, glistening with remaining water from the creek.

Eddy salivated at the sight of the coins, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. Jimmy cringed at the sight and quickly head downstairs to retrieve a paper towel, placing it at the corner of Eddy's mouth. Good God, he knew Eddy loves money but this is just straight up ridiculous.

"Instead of ogling our money, why not actually count out the money instead of drooling on my floor?" Jimmy recommended snidely, striding towards the crate.

Snapping out of his money-obsessed stupor, Eddy blushed for a second at his drool before walking towards the coins in the crate, grabbing a handful of coins and started to count out each of them.

All in all, Eddy wagered he wasted a solid two hours of his day counting out quarters and whatever else was in the crate. Two hours of his life, wasted counting abandoned pocket money dumb tourists literally dumped into Peach Creek's stream. Two hours well-spent counting out seventy dollars and eighty cents worth of pocket money.

Oh boy, were they rolling in money. Eddy didn't want to believe it himself; at best, he expected they would get twenty dollars top, but their activities provided a more bountiful harvest than expected. That was an hour well spent if you asked him, if he could make the same amount of money in just that short of a time, then Eddy would be more than happy to repeat the experience.

Dividing the money fairly was a trickier process though. Not only dividing seventy dollars and eighty cents worth of coins into halves was difficult enough, now Eddy has to resist the temptation to hoard a bigger share of the money to himself while only giving Jimmy and Febrie unfair scraps of leftover change. It was like a game of tug-o-war played by two sides of his heart; one morally upstanding half struggling against the more greedy and avaricious side of Eddy's heart, with each side constantly wavering as he went about dividing thirty-five dollars and forty cents into equal thirds.

Eleven dollars and eighty cents was a smaller divided share than Eddy anticipated, but frankly, that number alone overshadowed the profits generated by any of his scams by a huge margin. As Eddy went to hastily shove the coins into his pockets, Jimmy gently set aside a smaller sum of money for the smaller girl while scooping up his cut into his hands and gently deposited in a wooden box.

Eddy glanced outside as he finished up stuffing his pockets with coins. The storm showed no signs of stopping its deluge and only continued to grow worse. At that point, all light has completely been blotted out by the rainclouds, giving the sky an ominous and foreboding shade of grey and white that flashed an unpleasant harsh white every hour or so. With such violent winds and the merciless downpour, Eddy wouldn't be too surprised if at least three trees in the woods would snap like a toothpick.

"If you want, you can stay the night," Jimmy stated, shooting an offhanded stare outside his bedroom window.

"I can?" Eddy asked incredulously. Giving the world outside Jimmy's house a once-over, Eddy found out he wouldn't mind staying the night. At that point in time, the entire cul-de-sac was basically drowning in rainwater; the road was covered with a sheet of water that reflected houses around it like a giant mirror, yards all around was waterlogged and the entire woods was basically a bayou at that point.

How did Jonny manage to run back from the woods to his house without slipping was beyond him.

"You know what, sure. I think I'd drown out there anyway," Eddy said goodhumouredly.

"I'll get a sleeping bag," Jimmy hurried out of the room to grab a camping sleeping bag. When the sweater boy left the room, Eddy found himself in Jimmy's room without any company.

He found himself shooting glances at the wooden box more often than comfortable. An uncomfortable feeling swelled up in his stomach as his hands started to tremble roughly, making sudden jabs at the box like he was in a boxing ring.

Gulping to stamp out the sudden urge to pickpocket Jimmy's share of the money (which was harder than he thought), Eddy sat next to the window to stare out at the dour scenery. Raindrops drummed against the glass pane noisily and without pause, making Eddy wonder how are they going to sleep through the racket.

He sighed and drew the curtain closed. He gave another sigh and recline against the corner. Sometimes, he wondered if the universe hated him sometimes. It was nothing but hassles and misery in his years. First his older brother, then it was most of the cul-de-sac kids who supplied the pain, and now this. This was just straight up ridiculous. Who knew that all you need to do to screw up somebody's life beyond measure is to throw a magic arrow at it and watch from a distance?

The three hags of fate are probably laughing their heads off from their cozy little corner of heaven right now because his misery is a god's soap opera, Eddy thought sourly. Fidgeting with one of his locks and twirling it around his fingers, Eddy sent a sidelong glance at the door as Jimmy creaked it opened, sleeping bag in hand.

"It took me a while because the sleeping bags were in the back of the house with my camping equipment," Jimmy apologized, dumping the sleeping bag onto the floor, "but this should be good enough. Do you want some pajamas? My father should have some that can fit your size."

"It's good, Jimmy," Eddy declined, "it's only for one day, so no need to pull out all the stops. Besides, I've slept in my normal clothes before, so it won't be so bad."

Jimmy shrugged, "If you insist."

Eddy raised his wrist up to his face and whistled, "Now would ya look at that, it's already nine-thirty."

The curly-haired boy gasped, "I really should go to sleep by now, I have a pop-quiz coming up in second period."

"I should get my own beauty sleep too honestly," Eddy professed, "Got a long day of looking for the arrow ahead of us, and all that sweet jazz."

Jimmy grimaced, "I'm not really excited for that." he admitted as he left the room to change.

"I'm not really excited too, but gotta find it before the town turns into an absolute hellhole," Eddy stated, even though Jimmy already left.

Eddy sighed and smooth out the sleeping bag. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day.

* * *

It was maybe five or six something in the morning, maybe four? But Eddy found himself waking up in Jimmy's navy blue sleeping bag just as the first ray of the morning peaked over the eastern horizon. Groggily pushing himself up, he rubbed his eyes drowsily and rubbed the back of his neck.

Yawning and smacking his mouth, he turned and saw that Jimmy was still conked out peacefully on his queen-sized bed, hair slightly messy. Eddy turned towards the window and saw much to his pleasure the rain had let up, and the water on the street was no more than puddles. A few ducks march their way across the watery surface and subsequently flew off as he watched.

Well, now's as good as a time to leave. Eddy pulled himself out of the sleeping bag and checked on his pockets to make sure his eleven dollars was still in there, sighing in relief when all the coins were still his pockets and nowhere else. Stepping through the opened door, he quickly descended downstairs and grabbed everything he brought; his umbrella and raincoat.

Creaking the door to an open position, Eddy founded the air was still heavy with humidity and moisture. There were still clouds in the sky, but they were more spread out and thinner. Eddy hurried towards his house and opened the door, swiftly retreating into his home and closing the front door behind him.

He collapsed into his own bed with a moan of delight. Eddy sighed when his euphoria was cut short when he realized that school was still a thing and it was going to start in an hour or so. Wish it was summer already, that way he would have an excuse to stay at home and do whatever he wanted.

Tch, if Rolf or Edd was there, they would probably give him hell for saying that, though indirectly. Direct threats never really suit any of them, Rolf simply because he was just so polite and down-to-earth, or Edd because he wouldn't have the manpower to make good of his threat nor the personality to actually make a threat.

He snorted at the ridiculous image of Edd actually threatening someone. Like the Sockhead could have the guts to actually threaten someone. He may have enough fighting spirit to awaken and control a Stand—which he was still wrapping his head around—but said Stand is essentially useless, not to mention every other day Edd would barely show any signs of being willing to fight. Hell, even an eight-year-old has more fighting spirit than him, talk about embarrassing.

Eddy shook his head and entered his bathroom, brushing his teeth as he does so. Rinsing out his mouth, Eddy left the bathroom and searched for a cleaner set of clothes.

Changing into his day clothes, Eddy admitted he shouldn't be so hard on Edd. The guy did put up with him for over nine years, that had to count for something. The cul-de-sac kids only lasted a week before giving up on him.

Eddy slung his backpack over his shoulder and made his way across the cul-de-sac towards the neighborhood kids' bus stop. His steps caused ripples throughout every puddle he walked over, warbling like a small-scale ocean. The sky above grew clearer and brighter with the sunrise's light and the trees swayed in the gentle spring breezes that blew by every few seconds.

Stopping at the bus stop located next to the playground, Eddy extolled a warm breath and sighed. Another day of searching for the arrow, what a hassle. Why did Edd have to pull an Ed and gave the arrow to Ed? That is singlehandedly still the dumbest decision Edd had ever have the brains—or rather lack thereof—to make. Thanks to his oh-so-smart decision, the arrow has left their care and now off inside the school, surrounded by dozens—no hundreds—of potential Stand Users, practically begging to make trouble.

Yes, he is still bitter over it. Yes, maybe he's still slightly sour over Edd about it. But really, Eddy felt like so much could have been done, could have been prevented if he took the initiative instead.

He could simply, went ahead with the arrow and waited for the other two boys. Or if Edd really needed to hand the arrow to Ed, Eddy could keep a close eye on Ed, just as a precaution. Or physical intimidation, that could work.

But no. Now the freaking Stand arrow is inside the school, probably creating a Stand from some poor and stupid sap who picked it up on a whim and being passed to other kids like a school-wide—or maybe even town-wide—game of hot potato.

In his dark and admittedly semi-depressing thoughts, the bus stop grew to be occupied by more people, mostly kids from Rethink Avenue and Prodigialis Street. While kids from Prodigialis Street and any passerby might have been alarmed at the rather grumpy and hostile expression on Eddy's face, cul-de-sac kids knew it was a somewhat neutral expression. Though they had absolutely no idea what could have provoked that expression, thankfully they mostly disregarded him.

Eddy released another languid sigh and stared down at his watch. In just five minutes, the bus will come and whisk them all away to school, the last place any kid would want to be (unless they're Edd).

"Hi, Eddy!" Ed said cheerfully.

"Hey there Monobrow," Eddy greeted blandly.

To his right, Jimmy cried, "Sarah! You're feeling better!"

Sarah smiled tiredly at Jimmy, expression actually serene instead of bratty or irritable. Happily embracing Jimmy in a hug, she said, "Yup, that stupid fever I have? Is as good as gone now."

Jimmy quickly disengaged himself from the hug, "Are you sure you're still alright?!" he asked, feeling her forehead.

She pushed his hand away, "Geez, I get a small fever and everyone flips out," Sarah said humorously, "It's not that bad Jimmy. I feel a little tired and woozy but it's nothing too bad. Nothing a small in-class nap won't fix."

Jimmy smiled, "If you say so," He said playfully, bumping her shoulder gently.

From the sidelines, Eddy couldn't help but crack a tiny grin. That was the nicest and most quiet he ever heard Sarah.

As the chatter went on around them, the yellow school bus pulled next to the bus stop and opened its doors, allowing students entry. After Ed finally boarded the bus, the door closed behind him and drove off towards Peach Creek Junior High.

* * *

"Okay, run that by me again just so I can actually wrap that around my head."

"Well, remember the pointy thingy that gave me my Stand?" Febrie started awkwardly, fidgeting with her hair, "I think I found it in the archery club room."

"What?!" Eddy exclaimed loudly, causing both Febrie and Jimmy to recoil from the volume. Around them, students stared at them in confusion and annoyance, no doubt disturbed by Eddy's voice.

"Come on, let's go somewhere more private," Jimmy suggested, taking Eddy and Febrie's hand and leading them out of the cafeteria.

The location Jimmy lead them to was an empty art classroom decorated with easels, paint, posters, and cardboard. The blinds were semi-closed with one of the lights turned on, illuminating the classroom somewhat.

"Anyways Febrie," Jimmy continued, "You said you found the arrow? Truly?"

"Well, at least I think I found it. It's in one of the club member's arrow holding thingy," Febrie described, "you said it was green-and-silver right?"

"That's the one," Jimmy confirmed.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TAKE THE ARROW?!" Eddy roared at the marigold-haired girl angrily.

Febrie blanched, "I—I wasn't sure if it was the thing you guys actually were looking for!"

"We gotta get it now! Jimmy, use your Stand to get it back now!" Eddy commanded sharply. The shorter boy shook his head.

"That's not a wise idea. Not all of our schoolmates are Stand users, and since they can't see my Stand, I'm sure everyone would freak out seeing an arrow that apparently moves on its own."

Eddy slammed his hand on the table, "Fine, I'll get the arrow myself."

He stood up from his seat and quickly left the classroom behind him, rushing down the hallway as he does so. Eddy felt a mix of elation and anxiety welling up inside him as he grew ever closer to the archery clubroom, closer to putting the incident that never should happen to a rest.

Ten minutes before classes started and the school halls grew crowded as students went about their pre-class routine, opening their lockers, sharing juicy gossip and exchanging homework answers. Eddy weave in between them with some ease and before he knew it, the semi-closed door of the archery clubroom sat right in front of him.

Eddy eagerly opened the door and entered the spacious room gleefully, eyes flicking about the space looking for the arrow. A line of quivers sat next to the targets and Eddy marched towards them eagerly. He looked at the first one and scanned for the familiar appearance of the arrow.

The arrow wasn't there. Eddy looked at the next quiver. The arrow wasn't there.

The arrow wasn't there.

The arrow wasn't there.

The arrow wasn't there.

Why?! They were so close! Why wasn't the arrow in one of them?!

Eddy despaired silently for approximately two seconds in place before a, "Hey!" snapped him out from his sulking. The boy turned around distractedly and saw much to his horror two club members in the doorway, glaring at him furiously.

"What do you think you're doing, bub?" the first one asked angrily.

Eddy froze in place, completely unsure of what to do except for yelling out, "Smooth Criminal!" two seconds later.

Imagine the surprise the second archery club member harbored when his companion was suddenly flung back towards a locker for no apparent reason. Flabbergasted, he quickly went to check on his friends while Eddy immediately seized his chance at getting the hell out of dodge, dashing out of the clubroom while the two boys were occupied.

Angrily re-entering the art classroom, Eddy spoke, "Febrie, you liar, the arrow wasn't there!"

"But it was there!" Febrie cried, "I know it was! It was green and silver, right?"

"You're right, but if the arrow wasn't there, then where did it go?" Jimmy asked.

Before Febrie or Eddy could provide a theory, the advisory bell echoed throughout the entire school, signaling the start of the school day.

Eddy quickly turned towards the two children, "We'll look for the stupid arrow all day. Skip class if you need to, I just want to get it over with because the longer the arrow's in the school, the more trouble we'll need to clean up."

Jimmy made the motion of protesting, but Eddy had already left the classroom. Febrie left the classroom three seconds after he did and with a resigned sigh, Jimmy stood up and left the classroom himself.

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **Alright alright alright, thanks for your reviews last chapter! I admit, picking out the JoJo characters wasn't easy but your reviews definitely made it easier. We'll see who'll visit Peach Creek but for now, that's all I have to say.**

 **Yes this arc is a three-parter but you can expect a fight scene next chapter, but for now, that's a wrap! Until next time!**


	12. Acheron, Part 3

**Chapter 11: Acheron, Part 3**

"What a miserable Wednesday," plagued Jimmy's thoughts for the rest of the school day. Even though it was an uplifting Wednesday clear of clouds and rain—a very jarring contrast from Tuesday—Jimmy found it nearly impossible to enjoy the sun-drenched day.

Wandering the halls of the school's second floor alone also had Jimmy rather downcast. Instead of being in his third period, sitting right next to Sarah and discussing the finer points of what kind of chocolate chips to add to cookie dough or what they wanted to do on the weekend instead of actually paying attention in history, Jimmy wandered the lonely halls by himself, absentmindedly looking for the arrow.

From the upper floor, sunlight poured in from the windows and illuminated the halls, toning the room in a light and barely visible yellow. Jimmy heard that if anyone was smart enough—or rather stupid enough—to go to the rooftop, the scene one could see from the rooftop is something to behold. But he wasn't interested in that. No, he was interested in the godforsaken arrow he stupidly abandoned inside the school halls in his haste to keep it from the Eds' hands.

Why did he even struggled so hard to keep it from them in the first place? To play with it with Sarah? That was the stupidest he had ever been. What could two fourth-graders even do with an antique arrow that's probably older than the United States of America besides inevitably cutting themselves?

Jimmy sighed and took the stairs down to the first floor, looping his well-maintained curls in between his fingers. He shot a glance at a clock hanging on the wall. **10** **:57 a.m.** In just three minutes time, third period will end and every single kid in the school will pour out from their classes and enter a new one to repeat the process about three more times.

The sweater boy quickly stepped off the stairs and scanned one of the windows that allowed passing students a perfect view of the sports field. There were only a few straggling students picking up leftover gym supplies like jump ropes and dumbbells and planting them back on the table for the next class to use before entering the locker room.

No arrow.

Jimmy exhaled a resigned groan. Even if it was out there, someone would have bound to find it eventually and turn it to the coach who would accordingly hand it to the archery club leader, mistaking it for a stray arrow they had lost.

The fourth-grader jumped at the period bell and stared ahead as multiple sixth graders spilled out from the locker room, bags and notebook in hand. Jimmy turned tail and walked the other directions, mind in a retrospective state.

He might as well go to Cooking next period. That is one of his most favorite class—or at least the most tolerable—so he might stick around for at least fifteen minutes just to set everything up for tomorrow.

As he thought about the course of his school day, he didn't pay close attention to his surroundings and found himself bumping into every other student passing by the hall, much to their annoyance. As a student passed by, a single mechanical pencil dropped out of the open compartment of their backpack and onto the floor. Three seconds later the unaware Jimmy took three steps forward and settled his shoe right on to the pencil.

Letting out a surprised yelp, Jimmy flailed his arms around in a goofy attempt to regain balance and summoned Carousel in hopes of his Stand being able to at the very least cushion the fall. He managed to summon Carousel just in the nick of time, only for his knee to wham against the cold hard floor of the ground, causing an agonizing sensation to flare across his knee and leg before his Stand would have a chance to intercept his fall in time, invalidating his efforts.

Stand recoiling back into the crevices of his psyche, Jimmy immediately curled up and writhed in pain, holding his leg in pain. His right leg felt absolutely horrible, like volts jammed into his knees and kept stinging if he even thinks about moving them. The cold floor felt even colder when bystanders merely passed him by without even approaching to help, merely shooting him an offhanded glance at best. Though he really can't blame them; he gets injured literally every other week, sporting at least one bandaged wound or cast on his arm. With how often he gets injured, he would probably disregard himself if he were them.

But oh goodness does it hurt. Recovering quickly doesn't equate to being impervious and though he grew acclimated to the pain, never once was it pleasant.

Thankfully for him, a fellow student noticed his plight and quickly hurried towards his aid, asking, "Hey there mate, are you alright?"

His voice had a distinct Australian lilt in it and when Jimmy looked up, there were definitely some subtle hints of English-Australian set in his features.

"I think I'm fine," Jimmy stuttered, trying desperately to stand up, "I, I just need to get to class."

"Woah there calm down!" The boy quickly hurried to stop him, "Are you sure you reckon you're fine? Your face doesn't say you're fine."

Jimmy didn't want to admit it, but he's right. His face was scrunched up in an uncomfortable grimace every time he tried to move his knees and when he did he went down like a sack of bricks.

"C'mon, we gotta have you see the nurse," the boy stated, "You can walk, mate?"

Jimmy tested his legs and gave him a tentative, "No," Of course he can't walk; for all he knows the knee is fractured for the second time this year.

Frowning slightly, the Australian boy gently grabbed Jimmy's right arm and slung it around his shoulders while his left arm tucked itself in between Jimmy's left arm and side. Carefully testing the position out, he started to march towards the nurse's office while keeping a careful hold on the small Stand user.

As they went through the school, the students of Peach Creek Junior High slowly funneled into their fourth period, leaving the halls empty except for hall monitors. Three seconds later, the bell echoed throughout the school, signifying the end of the passing period.

"Aren't you worried that you're tardy for class?" Jimmy asked.

"Nah. Not really." the Australian youth shook his head, "My next class is Art, and they take a while for things to set up, so by the time I got back, they should start painting. Besides, I can't just leave you on the floor, what kind of bloke would I be? A git, that would be what I'd be."

"Thanks," Jimmy said awkwardly. A few more moments of awkward silence pass them by before he asked, "Are you Australian?"

"Yup," he nodded, "moved here from Adelaide. Nice city, a bit on the dull side though. Mum and dad moved here for a new change in scenery and better jobs."

He paused, "What's your name?"

"Jimmy. What's yours?"

"Xander. Uh, Bly."

The air once again filled with awkward tension as they approached the nurse's office. Jimmy reached out a hand and struggled to open it before resolving to manifest Carousel's hand over the doorknob and twist it open. The curly haired Jimmy sent a hasty glance towards Xander and breathed out a collective sigh of relief when the boy stared off in the other direction.

Gently jostling the youth, Xander quickly turned his head towards the door and slowly and delicately carried Jimmy into the nurse's office. Unsurprisingly, Edd was there, being the Nurse's Assistant by meticulously organizing various surgical instruments like tongue depressors, gauzes, and splints (Jimmy swore to God that Edd would do anything to get extra credit).

The boy turned around and saw the two boys, "Ah, hello Jimmy," Edd greeted, "Are you feeling alright right now?"

"If you call having a possibly fractured knee alright, then yes, I'm perfectly fine and dandy," Jimmy snarked.

Edd made a thin frown and pursed his lips, "Fractured knee? That's a rather serious and bold claim. Can you elaborate?"

Xander quickly piped up, "He was on the ground holding his knees. I think he slammed it against the floor but I don't really know how he fell in the first place."

"I slipped on a pencil," Jimmy elaborated, "I tried to regain my footing but I think it would have been better to put my hands out to break the fall."

"Well it happened, no point in dwelling in it for too long," Edd said, "now let's see if your patella is injured and if so, how badly."

Edd carefully and lithely moved his hands fluidly never staying in one place for too long. He lightly tapped the front of his kneecaps and quickly moved behind it and gently pressed it, all the while occasionally murmuring to himself or asking Jimmy to straighten his leg. His hands moved like an engineer who knew his craft like how Jimmy knew cooking—both of their expertise at their field would easily match to those of professionals'—while being gentle and precise enough to not cause needless damage.

"What's the prognosis, Doc?" Jimmy couldn't resist in making that quip.

"Hmm," Edd hummed, placing a gloved hand onto his chin, "well, from my observation, there is some rather noticeable swelling above your patella, and your legs didn't straighten out fully when I asked you to straighten it. For now, we'll assume the best case scenario and say it's a stable patellar fracture. We can't say for sure until we're certain that you have a fractured kneecap; for all we know it's a severely bruised knee."

Jimmy sent an unsavory frown towards his knees. He would definitely smack it hard if it wouldn't incite stinging agony up his spine.

"What now?" Xander asked, voicing out Jimmy's own question.

Edd released a sigh, "He'll stay in here I suppose. Letting him walk all the way back to his class is completely out of the question, even if you help him. And you can't be by his side forever, even if this isn't a fractured kneecap, he'll have an incredibly hard time getting to classes on time. I'll call his parents and get them to bring him to the hospital, we'll see what we can do from there."

Edd paused, "Mister, erm..."

"Xander."

"Mister Xander, you can leave now to your class now. I need to talk with Jimmy personally."

Xander recoiled slightly but nodded, hitching up his back-pack and waving Jimmy good-bye. The boy waved him back as he left down the hallway.

Seeing the youth leaving the room, Edd quickly turned to Jimmy, "Tell me the truth, how did you really broke your kneecap?"

"I did," Jimmy protested, "I actually did slip on a pencil. I was in the locker room hallway and somebody dropped their pencil, I wasn't looking at the ground so I stepped on it and slip."

"Did you try to summon your Stand to at least cushion the fall?"

"No, before Carousel can intercept in time I hit the ground too fast," Jimmy elaborated, wincing down at his knee in the meantime, "Xander helped me up and get here to see what you can do."

Edd released a breathy sigh that contained all of his stress and tension before turning his back on Jimmy, "Well, with your own testimony with Xander's, added with my own rather basic examinations, you have what should be a rather stable patellar fracture. Either that or an extremely serious bruise. Both can severely impair your movement, so it's best you should stay here for now.

"I will call your teachers and excuse you from their classes for the day. I will also call your parents and see if they can pick you up early." Turning toward the nurse's table, Edd picked up the office phone and started to dial their number as Jimmy quietly observed the hallways from the window on the door.

It was quiet, naturally. It was only in the middle of fourth period, after all, 11:36. There were a few teachers in the hall and even fewer students walking around. Quiet mechanical murmurs and Edd's voice reverberated throughout the room as Jimmy observed the sterile white office blandly.

Jimmy fidgeted with his straw-blonde curls and stared down at his leg. He mentally cursed it and wanted to give it a chewing out for some reason. It was only a kneecap, a fractured one at that, so it's not like it has a mind of its own and recoil away from him like a kid before their scolding mother.

He glared at it angrily and stared up, only to be surprised by his Carousel floating a foot away from him, confusion outlined in its face. Its heterochromia eyes stared at Jimmy's knees in a manner that resembled intrigue and curiosity while it hovered in front of him.

"What, you've never seen a fractured kneecap before?" Jimmy enquired, mildly amused.

The hatted Stand didn't say anything, just merely staring at his legs with the same curiosity. A clattering sound of plastic hitting against plastic echoed from the other side of the office and Edd turned towards Jimmy, a small box in hand.

"I've called your parents and they've said they'll pick you up as soon as possible," Edd started, unboxing the package in his hands, "until then, you should wear this splint on your knee. It's not a substitute for a proper cast but it should stabilize your knee until the hospital can get you a cast."

Edd paused, "If you may, why is your Stand out? We don't have any threat upon us currently."

Carousel and Jimmy turned to look at him. The boy gave a listless shrug, "I 'dunno. I didn't summon him on purpose."

Jimmy slowly craned his head towards his Stand, "You can go now." and with a puff of pink and blue, Carousel disappeared back into Jimmy's soul.

Edd felt his lips turning up into a mild grin, "Hmm, Stands are truly interesting. Now, stay still."

Carefully adjusting Jimmy's knee, the boy grabbed the splint within the green box and started to carefully wrap the fabric material around his knees. Delicately strapping in the velcro and lightly tightening the straps, Edd breathed out a satisfied sigh, "There, that should keep your knees from doing any unnecessary movement until a proper medical professional can give you a cast."

"You mean a doctor?" Jimmy asked with an eyebrow raised. Talk about wordy.

Edd mumbled an awkward confirmation. Quickly turning back around, Edd hurried towards the computer to handle student files with a semi-luminescent blush on his face, slightly embarrassed about his unneeded eloquence. Jimmy shook his head in mild resignment before leaning back against the wall, sighing out in boredom. Everyone's been doing that a lot recently.

Turning his head towards the window allowing a view of the hall outside, Jimmy watched as the minutes slowly flowed on by. Outside, three gym students left the gym for a quick drink from the water fountain. Meanwhile, his Cooking teacher, Mr. McIntyre went down the hall and towards the main office's direction. Ugh, what a boring day.

But...why is he still looking out? Is the hallway really that engaging? That's like looking at a drying paint wall.

Jimmy tried to turn his head away but something was keeping his attention. His neck wasn't locked...but more like too focused on something, what is he so focused on?

Somewhere down the hall, a black and white shape appeared from the corner. It was small-looking, maybe slightly bigger than his hands if scaled properly? Jimmy stared at it in disbelief. W—What is that?

The unidentified flying object hovered in the air before what seemed like a gap across its circular surface opened up like an opening zipper. Jimmy felt realization dawning on him. A puppet?

The puppet hovered in place for a second as an object slowly emerged from its pink inside (mouth?). A green and silvery object, fastened onto a wooden rod, poked out hesitantly from the puppet. The green object jittered in place, almost as if deciding where it wanted to point at, and swiveled straight at the gym.

Jimmy wanted to scream in glee. The arrow! He found the arrow!

The arrow immediately withdrew back inside the puppet and darted off inside the gym before he could react. Jimmy was sure it was the arrow now! He'd recognize that three-leaf pattern unique to Rolf's Stand Arrow from a mile away! And the energy it poured off, it was no fake, it's the genuine article!

"The arrow," Jimmy hissed under his breath, "I've found it!"

"Huh?" Edd turned around, confused.

"I've found it, I've found it!" Jimmy chorused, limping from the medical table he was on and towards the door.

"Come back, you'll agitate your knee!"

Jimmy didn't pay him any heed, he continued towards the door and struggled it open, even as his legs move and agitate the knee. The boy immediately dropped to the ground and clenched his teeth. The agonizing sensation moved up his thighs like flames spreading from a puddle of gasoline, causing Jimmy to clench his fist from the pain. While it wasn't as bad it would be without the splint, the pain was still hurtful enough to keep Jimmy down on the ground, essentially crippling him.

"I don't think I can move from this position, even if I tried," Jimmy whispered, "but my Stand has the longest range out of anyone here—aside from Febrie's Acheron maybe. It'll scout out the gym for me! Carousel!"

In a vivid explosion of cotton candy colors of pink and blue, the jester-hatted Carousel bounded from the near crippled Jimmy and immediately rocketed into the gym. Carousel examined the room, soaking in every detail and every single object in the room.

"Not here," Carousel murmured in Jimmy's voice. From its vantage point, it could see the entire gym with very little blind spots scattered throughout and relayed the sight back to Jimmy's own eyes. And without a single doubt, Jimmy knew the arrow was outside, feeling a significant lack of energy inside.

"Outside?" Carousel uttered and quickly zoomed out to the field. The surge of students constantly moving around the field made examining for the arrow a total hassle. It was like looking for a queen bee; expect to waste your time if you don't know what it is you're looking for.

Then it entered his Stand's vision; the monochrome puppet that was definitely a Stand slowly hovered overhead above a small gaggle of preteens near the corner of the field next to an exercising station, chattering lightheartedly among them. Much to Jimmy's horror, the mouth of the puppet opened wide and given how shadowy the corner is, none of the students down below were the wiser as a hand holding the arrow slowly emerges from the mouth of the puppet.

"I gotta stop the arrow!" Carousel screamed and immediately shot towards the group. No no no! He can't let the arrow hit even one of those students. Jimmy desperately urged his Stand to fly faster but he knew deep down it would amount to nothing.

The school field was over 200 feet in length, and Carousel and the students were at opposite corners, meaning his Stand would have an even longer distance to traverse than if they were simply on the other side of the field. Not to mention while his Carousel has range as a definite factor on its side, compared to Smooth Criminal or Amarillo Sky or Acheron, Jimmy's Stand has utterly abysmal speed.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Jimmy's voice screamed. Carousel isn't going to make it in time!

"James Blackwell!" Before anything more despairing could happen, a British voice cried out his name, causing Jimmy to dismiss his Stand midway through its rush.

"Yes, mother?" Jimmy asked with a faux calm tone, despite internally he was absolutely horrified with what's coming soon.

"The school nurse has called me and told me what happened," Jimmy's mom stated, "he said you've fractured your kneecap and said you might need to visit the hospital."

"It was an accident," Jimmy mumbled.

"Oh honey," Jimmy's mom sighed, adopting a more soothing voice, "how often do I need to remind you? Exercise more caution often!"

"All the caution in the world won't matter if said world is out to get me," Jimmy couldn't help but grow sullen. Stand or no Stand, he just can't help but be accident-prone.

"Anyways, thank you for notifying me of my sweet Jimmy's recent accident. I'll take him to get a cast right away!"

"It's the duty of a nurse, or rather nurse's assistant," Edd said shyly, waving her gratitude off.

"Wait, before we go, I need to tell Mr. Edd something," Jimmy said and hobbled towards Edd.

"Double-D, I found the arrow!"

Edd's eyes widened.

"Surely you jest! Where?"

"That's the problem, it's in the hands of a Stand user!" Jimmy exclaimed, "Whoever the user is, I think his Stand is a bound one. It's bound to a hand puppet with some sort of hyperspace power, and the user is going around with arrow, piercing anyone the arrow seeks out! And I think he found someone it wants!"

Edd gave a serious nod, "I'll notify the others immediately, and I'll see what I can do with our soon-to-be new Stand user. Now hurry to your mother."

Jimmy gave him a curt nod and limped towards his patient mother, who quipped, "What was your conversation about?"

"Our fellow students," Jimmy replied offhandedly.

"Oh ho! Gossiping are we?" Jimmy's mother said lightheartedly, "Never knew you could be so quick to spread rumors."

Jimmy remained quiet as they went to the car. Closing the door next to him, Jimmy winced at the throbbing pain in his knee. Propping his head onto his hand, the car rumbled as his mother started the engine. After a few seconds of the engine stalling, the car hummed to life and drove away from Peach Creek Junior High.

As the school slowly grew farther away from him, Jimmy watched as trees zoomed by and felt a swell of multiple emotions growing inside him. While most kids were overjoyed that they would get to leave school early for the day—even if they have to suffer an injury for it—Jimmy felt no such glee inside him.

If anything, he was more concerned about the school than ever, in particular, the anonymous Stand user that seem to be deliberately activating Stands within his fellow schoolmates. Why? Why are they going out of their way to create new Stand users? Was it just boredom? Intrigue? He really doesn't know, but if they kept piercing more students, then Jimmy and the others will have a lot more trouble to clean up.

Now that he thought about it, was the Bound Stand user responsible for Febrie's own Stand? Likely; maybe when the Stand user was getting used to their Stand, the arrow could have slipped and sought out Febrie, giving her a dose of the arrow and bequeathing her Acheron. That could've given the user the idea to seek out potential Stand users to create.

But, what if the next Stand user wasn't as good as Febrie? Jimmy felt a quiver resonating throughout his skin; heaven forbid if they have a damaging close-range Stand. Now that is really out of his league.

"Jimmy, we're there," his mother piped up next to him, pulling into a parking lot as she said so.

"Huh?" Jimmy uttered, looking up from his position next to the window, "Already?"

"Yup," the woman confirmed cheerfully, "Quicker you can get a cast on and off, the better!"

* * *

Eddy quietly peered at the digital clock set in the wall. **2:24 p.m.** So close, yet so far...he wished he has a time-accelerating Stand just so he could make each minute thirty seconds tops, rather than the mostly useless ability Smooth Criminal probably have. But alas, he can't.

Placing his face onto the desktop, the closest thing he could get to speed up time is being mostly unconscious, Eddy decided a nap would be great to snooze all those empty work minutes away. Closing his eyes, Eddy felt his consciousness slowly grew less alert.

Mumble, mumble. Ugh, talk about useless drivel, just when would class end already?

Peeking out an eye from his elbow, much to his elation, the numbers shined a vivid **2:29**. Drumming his fingernails against the hard surface of his table, Eddy counted down from ten.

Ten. Everyone hoisted their backpack onto their back.

Nine. Eddy stood up and grabbed his bag.

Eight. Why did he heard the gym students scream?

Seven. Meh, he didn't care enough to look into it.

Six. What's Smooth Criminal's power?

Five. Eddy almost wanted a Stand fight to find out.

Four. It would definitely make things more exciting.

Three. Almost...

Two...

One.

 ** _チリーンチリーンチリーン！_**

Eddy excitedly jumped and quickly burst through the crowd with glee. Finally, another Wednesday bit the dust, now it's nothing but whatever he wants!

"Eddy!"

"Ugh!"

With all the grace of a clattering card castle, Eddy collapsed onto his stomach as an unbearable weight crashed against his spine and sent him toppling towards the white floor.

"You've—ugh—gotta stop doing that!" Eddy shouted stoutly, "You'll turn me into a cripple with how often you're breaking my spine!"

Ed gave the boy a toothy smile as students divert around them while shooting the two of them nasty glares, "It's a-okay! If you're actually crippled, you can run me over with your wheelchair if you want!"

Eddy eyed him with annoyance, "Geez, you're more annoying when the school day ends."

Using Smooth Criminal to push Ed up from him, Eddy huffed in irritation and dusted off his clothes. Honestly, Edd seriously needs to consider reindoctri-whatever Ed to become less of an idiot, 'cause everybody knows that will save so much grief and frustration.

Eddy walked off with his hands jammed in his pockets, fiddling with the coins he has sagging his pockets down. Another day, another night to waste on games. Eddy released a breathy groan as he tried to correct his spine. Why does his back feel so creaky and whiny? He felt like any piece of interesting machinery Edd got his hands on and tortured to hell and back.

He scratched his hair dumbly; for some reason, he couldn't help but get attracted to the school field, like he was a moth to a bonfire. He blinked. Being attracted to somewhere even though you're not aware of it? Hmm, didn't Rolf called it ** _『_ _Gravity』_** or something? Ugh, that's dumb.

But despite dismissing the concept of ** _『_ _Gravity』_** , he couldn't help but feel his stomach boiling with uneasiness. He just can't stop walking towards the gym, is ** _『_ _Gravity』_** really that powerful of a force? Eddy gulped down a lump of pure anxiety he didn't know he had and felt like he would choke, oh god, things will escalate in a hurry, he felt it so...what was the word Edd use...emphatically?

"Ed! Get your butt over here now, on the double!" Eddy shouted loudly, voice reverberating throughout the walls of the hallway. Ugh, it's only been what, three minutes? But already a feeling of foreboding crawled up his spine like wild alarms screaming at him. In addition to dealing with their anonymous Stand user friend, for all he knows another one is created. One that's not so inclined towards friendliness like Febrie is.

Eddy looked behind him and much to his relief, the green-jacketed dope with the unibrow hurried full pace towards him, an utterly concerned face adorning his head as though every single fiber in his body was deadset in ensuring Eddy was okay.

The de-facto leader of the Eds smiled; leave it up to Ed to haul his butt all the way to the gym hallway in under five seconds when he was just about ready to leave the school, you gotta love his tenacity. Then the smile disappeared into something more concerned. Is it him? Or is was Ed running faster than needed?

Then there are only three meters worth of distance in between them.

Oh god! "Ed, stop!"

 _ **ボッゴーン！**_

Hardly sparing Eddy any time to brace himself, and with the sheer force akin to about twelve angry gods, Ed impacted against Eddy's smaller build like a speeding semi-truck, sending both of them crashing; skidding against the white floor with all the grace of a hockey puck across rink ice.

Crashing against the wall, Eddy screamed angrily at Ed and kicked at the redheaded boy, "Dumb-dumb, why the hell didn't you stop when you saw me?" Eddy asked furiously, early relief completely gone, "You could have actually crippled me right then and there!"

Ed smiled toothily, "Sorry. But didn't you said to get here on the double?"

Eddy opened his mouth but then shut his yap just as quickly, reluctantly conceding defeat. But he still sent another sharp kick aimed right at Ed's temple, because if Ed's right about him saying, "Get here on the double," then he deserved to kick him because Eddy might actually pull a Jimmy and break something.

"Ouch," Ed smiled despite the angry red spot growing on his forehead. Eddy scoffed and roughly pulled Ed to his feet while he murmured, "C'mon, I need you as backup muscle."

The two boys walked toward the open doors of the gym and passed through the threshold. Much to Eddy's pleasant surprise, Febrie was near the other door that leads outwards to the field whilst peering outside, entranced by something in the field.

The two Eds quickly rushed up to the girl, "Hey Febrie," Eddy greeted quietly, "What's up?"

Febrie turned towards Eddy, "Uhm, hey there Eddy."

"Whatcha doing here?"

"I dropped my hair ribbon back in the field when I had my P.E. class, ri~ght there!" Febrie traced a curving path from their position and directed their gaze towards a large scarlet ribbon, laid wayside near the other side of the field. However, the Cobbler football team appeared in the way, arguing with a football team Eddy recognized all too well.

"The hell are the Lumpers doin' here?" Eddy growled, clearly unhappy by their presence.

Febrie shrugged, "Like I know, all I really know is that they popped up before I got here and now I don't wanna go get my ribbon."

"Why not?" Ed inquired, confused.

"'Cause I'll eventually get involved whether I want to or not," Febrie lamented, "they're a pretty rambunctious bunch."

"Which one?" Eddy asked sardonically.

"Both of them. And besides, this is pretty amusing to look at, no?"

Eddy and Ed both gave a noncommittal shrug, "What are they even jabbering about anyway?" asked Eddy.

"The Lumpers were passing by our school and basically felt like making a scene," Febrie answered, "I think. That's what I heard anyways."

Eddy redirected his gaze towards Kevin. Watching the redheaded boy hotly arguing with the horrifyingly muscular Lumpers almost made him long for a physical confrontation. Almost. Even though he uncontestedly spite Kevin, he simply can't wish the same fate he once had on the capped boy. Being forced with the rowdy and violent Lumpers is only rivaled by being toyed by Eddy's brother by not that significant of a margin.

Well, not that he's against pushing Kevin around, but being forced to be pummeled by the entire Lumper gang just seemed a little too excessive, even for him.

"Why the heck are you still here anyway?!" A brunet boy cried angrily, "It takes forever to get here by foot from your stupid Lemon Brook! Did you really toughed out the walk just to mock us?!"

"Anything to put you tiny Cobblers in your place!" slurred the supposed captain of the Lemon Brook Lumpers team stupidly.

Oh boy, Eddy internally grimaced. This is usually where things get messy.

One of the boys seemed particularly furious—which is admittedly hard to distinguish because they all look equally pissed off—and started to approach the ridiculously athletic Lumpers. While Eddy and Febrie had absolutely no doubt that the sports team are some of the most athletic students in the entire school, Lumpers are even more so; Cobblers are to Lumpers like housecats to lions.

"The hell is that one moron doing?" Eddy asked himself under his breath, "He wants to see the hospital or something? Because if he keeps walking like that, those Lumpers won't even hesitate in pounding him into a pulp!"

"Sampson, what are you doing?!" Kevin shouted, similarly confused and angry, "Get back here, on the double!"

What happened next was absolutely not what Eddy expected. The football player rolled his shoulders and shifted to his left, an action that understandably perplexed the Lumpers.

"The hell are you scrawny little Cobbler doing?" one of the Lemon Brook Lumpers asked angrily, "Asking for a pounding?"

Yelling out a battle-cry, the hulk-like football player charged at the significantly smaller youth like a freight train, oozing pure malicious intent. In the next moment, a phantom arm, completely separate from Sampson, immediately manifested itself from the youth's shoulder and lashed out into the Lumper's abdomen, launching the taller male back into his companions like a bowling ball.

Eddy's eyes dilated, "What?!"

"Hrugwah!" the Lemon Brook Lumpers wailed in agony, piled up in a leaf pile of football players.

"You guys saw that too right?!" Eddy asked, "I'm not hallucinatin' or anything?!"

"I saw it as clear as gravy!" Ed shouted.

"I saw it too!" Febrie added.

"From the looks of it, neither Kevin and his squad of football-playing knuckleheads or the stupid Lumpers saw that arm," Eddy deduced, "only one answer, it's a Stand! And that Sampson guy is the Stand user!"

* * *

 **STAND NAME: Smooth Criminal**

 **STAND MASTER: Eddy McGee  
**

 **Destructive Power: A+  
Durability: A+  
Range: C  
Speed: B+  
Precision: D+  
Development Potential: B+  
**

 **Ability: ?**

* * *

"That football player is the user!"

"He's the user?!" Febrie asked.

"Who else?!" Eddy argued, "The only way a Stand can knock people back that far is if they're a close-ranged type, and close-ranged don't have that big of a range to manifest! It has to be that Sampson guy!"

"Um, Eddy? I think you might wanna look at this!" Ed warned, waving them over to the sight. Eddy quickly looked at the scene and did a double-take; Sampson approached the Lemon Brook Lumpers with a truly fearsome expression, slowly and purposefully striding towards the cowering boys like an executioner.

Planting his two feet in front of the boys, Sampson rumbled ominously, "So you think you can just make your merry way to our turf and insult us like you own the goddamn place? Who the hell do you think you are?!"

"Kiiyah!" the band of athletic boys cowered before Sampson, making an excellent imitation of a cat shrinking inwards of itself.

 _I always kept an ear out for gossip in the school, so I know at least the name of everyone here_. Eddy thought. _But that guy, Sampson—Tony Sampson—is a particularly famous one. But for wrong reasons; he had a short fuse, was incredibly nasty in games when I saw him play and even Kevin complains he never followed the game plan._

 _With a personality like that, he's a perfect guy for the arrow to make a Stand from!_ Eddy stood up and already went off at a run towards Tony.

"Eddy, what are you doing?!" Febrie yelled.

"Febrie, Ed, get everyone out of here, right now!" Eddy screamed, "I'll handle Tom Brady Jr. myself!"

"Dorky, what are you..." Kevin murmured from his position, utterly bewildered as the Cobblers were similarly confused.

"You heard the man, get the heck outta dodge, right now, on the double!" Febrie barked, attempting to push the squadron of Cobblers away. The boys reluctantly obeyed her orders, but they kept murmuring, "But Tony..."

"Upsy-daisy!" Ed shouted and scooped the unresponsive Lumpers into his arms. One of them even shouted, "Get us away from that psycho!"

Scanning the entire field, Eddy sighed, "No one's around to see our little scuffle, right?" Eddy stared at Tony with a half-lidded glare, "Tony Sampson?"

The football boy stood in place, "Why aren't ya letting me have at them? Those stupid Lumpers, don't you agree they're assholes?"

"Everyone in this school thinks they're assholes," Eddy replied, waving a phlegmatic hand at Tony, "and I know you wanna punch them like a sandbag. Hell, I do too. But, what I'm concerned about, is your ability."

"You...you can see it?" Tony asked delicately, the two boys now circling each other like rival wolves, "You can see my guardian spirit?"

"Yup," Eddy affirmed carefully, "you know, you shouldn't be whipping your spirit around all willy-nilly."

"Why not?"

"Because all it does is make stupid problems that shouldn't have happened in the first place and problems we need to clean up," Eddy clenched his jaws slightly, "so, why not stop now and screw around with those stupid Lemon Brookers later?"

"Hmm..." Tony hummed tapping his fingers on his chin, as though deliberating on a math problem.

Then his Stand slowly emerged into being, arms in an offense position, "How about no?" Tony's Stand's appearance seems primarily robotic in nature with an ivory and scarlet paint job, with multiple rotors near the joints and pistons in its legs. Barrel-chested, it wore football pad-esque armor over its' chest and fingerless gauntlets. A modified scarlet football helmet laid over its red-eyed head, helmet split into two halves and mouth guard resembling mandibles.

"Tch, doing it the hard way it is then," Eddy scoffed, summoning Smooth Criminal.

"Fine by me, I like doing things the hard way! Skid Row!" The barrel-chested Stand immediately jumped into action and rush a punch straight at Eddy.

Eddy's wellbeing in incoming danger, Smooth Criminal quickly intercepted Skid Row's punch with its' arms, forcing both of them back a few centimeters. Smooth Criminal quickly launched a rush attack at the enemy Stand.

 ** _"Ka-ching Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching Ka-ching_** ** _Ka-ching Ka-ching_** _ **Ka-ching Ka-ching!"**_ Fists zooming with pure destructive power, Smooth Criminal fired a barrage of punches that blurred the air, beggaring imagination. Every other strike land home and Skid Row felt its feet being push back at an alarming pace.

Both Eddy and Tony quickly retreated back a few meters and their Stands followed suit.

"Ugh, your spirit's no pushover, I'll give you that!" Tony grunted, rubbing his shoulders.

"Your Stand is a piece of crap, that's what it is!" Eddy shouted back.

"Stand? Is that what Skid Row is?"

Smooth Criminal glared at Skid Row with an undecipherable expression with its bright orange eyes, fist clenched tightly. Then Smooth Criminal made a _come-hither_ gesture, goading the other Stand.

Tony quickly darted forward to close the distance and Skid Row immediately fired a flurry of attacks, fists rocketing through the air like missiles. Eddy quickly hopped backward and Smooth Criminal retreated too, barely evading the attack in time. Skid Row lashed out with its leg and tried to kick the boy, but Smooth Criminal immediately grabbed its ankle and flipped it over before violently throwing it away, causing Tony to get similarly repelled back.

"Ugh, what the—!"

"Crash course on your Stand; anything bad happens to your Skid Row will also happen to you!" Eddy shouted.

"Guh!" Shoulders crashing against the turf roughly, Tony panted in pain. Thankfully his football equipment managed to absorbed enough of the impact enough to cause minor bruising at worse, but his helmetless head wasn't so lucky, unceremoniously impacting against the ground and causing a small headache.

Shakily getting to his feet, Tony angrily launched Skid Row towards Eddy's Stand in a rage. Fueled by his frustration, Skid Row furiously wailed on Smooth Criminal who once again threw up its defense, only to feel every hit that throbbed with more force than a grenade, causing Eddy to stagger and drop its defense.

Finally striking out with an impressive coup de grâce, Skid Row hurled its fist straight at Smooth Criminal's face with all the force of a speeding train, launching Eddy and his Stand away from Tony like a slingshot.

"Agh!" Eddy screamed and tried desperately to halt his flight, flailing his arms in an attempt to slow down his momentum. Eddy crashed against a fence on the other end of the school field and slumped down with a quivering body, Smooth Criminal fizzling away from sight.

Eddy trembled, "The...the hell was that about?" What just happened? Why did Skid Row had more power than usual? Just earlier...when Tony commanded his Stand to fight back, Eddy was certain his punches didn't even pack that much of a punch.

Eddy wobbled as he tried to regain his stance; while Skid Row's power wasn't to be trifled with, compared to his own Stand's power, Eddy was beyond confident he had the upper hand in both the speed and raw strength department, not to mention Smooth Criminal was already durable on its own, so why did Skid Row just experienced a sudden spike in firepower enough to break through Smooth Criminal's defense?

The scammer took one step forward and another step forward. Was that Tony's Stand ability?

"Tch!" Eddy quickly summoned Smooth Criminal back to his side. Internally grimacing, Eddy knew Smooth Criminal still didn't learn its ability yet. He's basically fighting with a huge handicap here! Without any sort of power to even the playing field, Eddy wasn't sure if he could win the fight.

Ed, he needed Ed! Monster Mash has an ability he could use to his advantage! He just need to call Ed!

He set off at a run, and Smooth Criminal quickly re-engaged back in battle with Skid Row.

 ** _"Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching!"_** Smooth Criminal roared, clashing fists against the retaliating Skid Row. Tony snorted.

"You think that would work?! You're no match for Skid Row!"

"Well, I have a trump card, right up my sleeve!" Eddy rebuffed and shouted, "Ed! Get your butt over here now, on the double!"

The boy tensed slightly. He was banking on Ed to come, he needed to come!

Eddy mentally rejoiced when Ed shouted, "Imma coming, Eddy!"

Directly behind him, Ed barreled forwards with unbridled speed like a train, punching through shrubs and trees with the grace of a walrus. Charging through the fence, Ed once again echoed, "Imma coming, Eddy!"

Eddy calmly strafed to the side as Ed approached with a cry, safely evading Ed's charge. Eddy watched with twisted satisfaction as Ed barreled beside him and into the unsuspecting Tony, toppling both of them to the ground like dominoes (not the pizza).

"Heyyy, you're not Eddy!" Ed protested.

"Get off of me you fat idiot!" The smaller boy screamed angrily, elbowing the taller boy off of him.

"Ouch," Ed remarked idly, sitting dumbly in place.

"Get up, Lumpy!" Eddy shouted, "He's gonna attack!"

The dumbest of the three Eds looked up and saw Skid Row's knuckles veering in at his head like a boomerang, practically burning with power. Fixing the incoming fist with no more than an apathetic glance, Monster Mash immediately fizzled into view and quickly grabbed Skid Row's arm with complete ease, pinning both the Stand and its user in place.

 ** _"Ungyah!"_** the barrel-chested Stand screamed coarsely, trying desperately to escape Monster Mash's vice grip, _**"Egyagh!"**_

Refusing to let up, Monster Mash lifted Skid Row into the air and spun it around at a literal dizzying speed, causing Tony's vision to blur. With a yell, Monster Mash tossed Skid Row away from Ed and Eddy like a fastball right at its user.

"Aargh!" Roaring, Tony used his Stand to grab onto the approaching football goal and swung back into action.

"I'll break your face off!" the boy howled angrily, "Skid Row!"

Roaring with all the fury of a lion, Skid Row threw out a rapid-fire flurry of attacks with all the force of a pipe bomb and Monster Mash quickly retaliated with a rather sluggish barrage of its own. Immediately both Tony and his Stand recoiled, confusing Eddy.

"W—What the?!"

"I think you guys are confused about what my Monster Mash did," Ed piped up, dissonantly calm, "So I'll explain, okey-dokey? When I went off to get the Lumpers as far away from the field as possible, I passed by the chemistry lab on the way there, I noticed some of those burner thingies we used in experiments. Before I came back here, I used my Monster Mash's power to mix the fire's heat with its fists, just to make it pack more of a punch."

Eddy's eyes widened, "Then, those blisters on your wrist!"

Tony distractedly looked down at his wrists and gaped in horror; multiple blisters and burns started to spread out from his wrists in the shape of a clenched fist, stinging wildly whenever he lightly touched it. Similarly, red splotches spread throughout Skid Row's wrists, and even the animalistic Stand was staring down on it in shock, completely bewildered by the markings on its wrists.

"Monster Mash!" Ed yelled.

The green-armored Stand leaped forwards and hurled a searing fist straight at Skid Row's face. Skid Row tried to lift a hand to intercept the punch, but much to Tony's disbelief, Ed's Stand merely plowed through Skid Row's hands, fragmenting it into pieces while it crashed right into its robotic head.

"ARGH!" Tony screamed in agony and clutched the side of his head as Skid Row's head actually imploded inwards, fracturing his head like an expensive Chinese vase and launching him backward.

The boy slowly slumped down, quivering like a leaf in a storm in pain.

"Y'know," Eddy remarked absently, "every time I need your help, the guy we're fighting usually ends up worse off than us, I wonder if it's gonna be a running gag anytime soon."

Ed's ears perked up and turned his head. The gym door opened up and Febrie quickly hurried towards the two Eds.

"I got them waiting in the art classroom for a while," Febrie huffed, wiping away, "and I did something to make sure they'll stay there for a while."

Her eyes slowly gravitated towards the wounded Tony, "What happened? Did you guys murdered him?!"

"Nah, we didn't go that far," Eddy waved a casual hand, "we just beat him up big time. His head's probably a shattered expensive Ming vase with how much we wailed on him."

"...he's not staying down Eddy," Ed warned, tugging on Eddy's shirt.

The yellow boy turned around distractedly and watch in amazement (and mild horror) as Tony wobbled unsteadily to his feet. He walked with an unsteady as all hell gait, but his expression actually made Eddy nervous of what's to come. His eyes practically glowed with pure unbridled beserker rage, and that anger probably served as one hell of an anesthesia, dulling the pain long enough for him to deliver a beatdown.

"That hurt!" Tony screamed, placing a hand to his head, "THAT FUCKING HURT, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

"Who the hell are you calling brat?!" Eddy shouted, masking his fear, "We're both older than you!"

 _I know that adrenaline is one hell of a drug, but not even blind rage could make you that immune to pain! What kind of Stand does Tony have?!_ Eddy thought in horror. Tony screamed, "Skid Row!"

Skid Row angrily fired another rush of attacks at the trifecta once again, lashing out with as much force as a full-speed bullet train. Febrie quickly yelled out, "Acheron!"

Instantly, a massive swarm of fairy-like Stand units quickly piled all over Skid Row's body, weighing the muscular Stand down as best as it could. Immediately the phantom weight quickly reflected back onto Tony's body, forcing the youth down.

"You think those little pixies of yours can keep my Stand down?!" Tony yelled, "Think again, you punk!"

"EDDY DO SOMETHING!" Febrie cried out in terror before Skid Row angrily attack in every direction, launching off multiple Acheron units and pulverizing an unlucky few that were misfortunate enough to put themselves in Skid Row's direction.

"Smooth Criminal!" Eddy shouted, re-summoning the Mafia-esque Stand back to his side.

Smooth Criminal picked up a football laid wayside by the edge of the field and revved up its arm for a toss. With a loud, **_"Ka-ching!"_** it threw the pigskin at full force, causing it to rocket forward with more force than a rushing car.

The ball crashed right into Skid Row's head.

 _ **"Ungyah!"**_ Skid Row screamed, rushing a hand towards its head. The football had actually deformed and exploded from the sheer force of the impact, causing it to scatter faux-leather like a grenade. Suddenly, another football came veering out of nowhere and crashed into the Stand's head once again, causing it to bend back at an unnatural angle.

"The hell?!" Tony and Eddy shouted in shock. Febrie turned towards Eddy's Stand, "Guys, look!"

The three kids watched as Smooth Criminal wound up for another toss and hurled yet another football straight at Skid Row, who merely backhanded the ball away with no more than an irritated glance only for another one to materialize in Smooth Criminal's hands somehow and immediately left its hand as soon as it came to be.

Staggered by the speed of the second football, Tony could only scream as the leather object sailed at his head like an arrow, smashing against the head of his Stand as it tried to intercept the ball's path.

"W—What?!" Eddy shouted, "Is this...Smooth Criminal's power?!"

"What kinda power is that?!" Febrie asked, "It's just basically replicating stuff! It's crap!"

"I know that!" Eddy argued, eyeing the wobbly-footed Tony, "But as long as we play the cards right, this dumb power might get us through this!"

 _Why isn't he staying down?! Monster Mash basically cracked his noggin and broke his hand!_ Eddy thought in frustration, _So why doesn't he stay down and out for the count?!_

"Guys! Get in position!"

"What?" Ed and Febrie echoed.

"Just get behind him!"

Tony staggered towards Eddy, eyes in a blind haze of anger, "You! Why don't you give up?! I'm fucking pissed that you won't stay down!"

"We get it! Being pissed is your trademark!" Eddy shouted back, "But that's exactly your power! Skid Row's ability is to amplify its strength the more you get angry!"

"So what?! Knowing what my power can do ain't gonna do jack-squat in taking me down!"

"Well, I can't do jack-squat in taking you down myself...but Febrie might do jack-squat with her ability, whatever it is!" Eddy yelled back.

"Oh man I hope this works!" Febrie cried and tossed her hand out, scattering multiple of her Stand units outwards, "Acheron!"

A few dozen units quickly flew towards Tony and his Stand and crowded his head while the rest of the remaining Acheron units quickly weighed his body down, forcing it immobile.

"Get off of me!" the boy howled angrily, trying to shake Febrie's colony Stand off of him but they held tight to his head. Her Stand immediately started to lift their arms up into the air as though preparing for a punch and quickly plunge down their fist altogether, screaming out a high-pitch yell of, **_"Let's do it, girls!"_**

Their tiny fists appeared to puncture his head like a bullet and immediately repeated the process, rush attacking the boy in a way that closely imitates Smooth Criminal and Monster Mash's own rush attack. However, Tony appeared no worse for the wear and slowly stood up, shaking off Febrie's unit with no problem whatsoever.

"You think your Stand's measly power can hurt me?" he asked, "Tch, you're dumber than you look!"

Febrie smiled, "That's where you're wrong. I'm not trying to attack you, I'm just activating my Stand's power."

"Wha—?" Tony muttered.

"Haven't you noticed? You're starting to become a lot calmer, you're not as loud as you used to be," Febrie pointed out.

Ed and Tony gasped.

"W—What did you do?!"

"Simple," Febrie replied, "since Eddy said your power increases the more you get angry, I used my Acheron's power. And it's power," she paused for dramatic effect, "is to implant and steal thoughts and emotions in you!"

 ** _ドーン！_**

"That's the perfect power to counter yours there, Sampson!" Eddy shouted victoriously, "And looks like your Stand's starting to suffer thanks to Febrie's Acheron!"

Tony gasped as he looked at his Skid Row; although its build change hardly any, its scarlet armor gleamed a duller red, its fists were now slackened and its previously angry grimace was contorted into something more restrained.

"Oh no," Tony uttered, feeling unwarranted happiness and calmness reigning over him.

"So now Skid Row's won't even put a scratch on us!" Eddy roared.

"Smooth Criminal!"

"Monster Mash!"

 _ **"KA-CHING KA-CHING**_ _ **KA-CHING KA-CHING**_ _ **KA-CHING KA-CHING**_ _ **KA-CHING KA-CHING**_ _ **KA-CHING KA-CHING**_ _ **KA-CHING KA-CHING**_ _ **KA-CHING KA-CHING!**_ _ **"**_

 _ **"SUBO-SUBO-SUBO-SUBO-SUBO-SUBO-SUBO-SUBO-SUBO-SUBO-SUBO! SUBOROWA!"**_

Multiple fists of gold and jade rapidly close in on the defenseless Stand-using football player with speeds likened to a bullet, pummeling every square inch of the boy without rest and mercy. Yelling out their Stand cry, Smooth Criminal and Monster Mash viciously wailed on both Tony and Skid Row with every punch impacting against his body.

Every strike so brutal and so painful-looking Febrie and her Acheron units actually had diverted their gaze away from the beatdown presented in front of them and covered their eyes. The screaming barely helped matters and Febrie was extremely grateful she wasn't on the receiving end of the Eds' punch rush.

Wrapping their barrage up, Smooth Criminal and Monster Mash reared their arms back an enormous deal, twisting their torso like a torque, and quickly snapped back into position, sending their fists right into Skid Row's face with all the power and ferocity of a relentless storm.

* * *

 **Tony Sampson, Age 12, User of the Stand _Skid Row_! _  
_** **STATUS:**  
 **OUT OF COMMISSION! [RETIRED!]  
**

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!"

"Ka—bammo!" Ed shouted gleefully as he watched Tony sailed through the air as though he were a human airborne missile, shooting through the football goal like an actual football and clattered against the wire fence noisily, dispelling his Stand as Tony got knocked out cold.

Febrie cringed at the barrage the entire process, "Oh my gosh, I'm _so_ glad I didn't give you guys a reason to pummel me as bad as you did to him! That looked like torture!"

Eddy sighed, "In the end, we didn't get the arrow back. What's new, am I right? But the bigger issue is that the arrow is in some kid's hands now. And if Tony was any indication, then that kid will probably find more people to turn into Stand users for us to deal with.

"Really the only reason we had to pummel him to unconsciousness is that he might go a little too overboard and use his Stand too much for everything. Who knows, he might even terrorize the entire school and I can't have that. There might be better, slightly less violent ways to approach this but really it's way too late for that now." Eddy groaned forlornly.

Ed shuffled around awkwardly, "We might need to get Tony some medical attention. We kinda went nuts on him a little too much, Monster Mash did kinda break his head after all."

"Eh, Rolf can deal with it," Eddy waved off but walked off towards Tony's unconscious body anyways, "C'mon Ed, heave-ho!"

Eddy grabbed Tony's feet and slung it over his shoulders while Ed grabbed his arm firmly. Carefully finding a good pace, the two boys started to march down towards their neighborhood whilst Febrie mused, "With how loud we were being I'm actually surprised no teacher came to check out the scene."

* * *

A black-and-white panda puppet flew through the air with total abandon, whizzing through the air with as much grace as a dead bird, its pilot not caring about its course of the flight.

Hovering just high enough to escape human view, the puppet's mouth slowly opened up to allow its pilot—or rather, its user—to peek out of its body. Pushing his upper body out, the small straw-blonde boy viewed the road beneath him, watching a yellow bus navigating its way throughout Peach Creek. Suddenly, a green arrow nearly flew out from the puppet's mouth and the boy quickly snatched the arrow before it had a chance to fully exit the puppet.

"Hmm..." the boy hummed, appraising the arrow in his hands, "So this pointy object can give people's powers? So weird, but so great! I wanna use this thing to give people powers like I do! This would be a great thing to do when I'm bored!"

The arrow dipped down and the puppet accordingly moved down at an angle, skimming the top of the bus as it did so.

"Oh mister sharp, pointy object," the Stand user sang, holding the Stand arrow out, "who will be the next lucky person? Make it snappy!"

The next few minutes rolled by and students got off the bus as time went by. As the bus neared its last stop, the boy could felt the arrow's pull growing more intense.

He grinned gleefully, "Oh boy! Come on out, you winner!"

The bus slowed to a stop and the door hissed open, spilling out multiple students of varying age as the boy with the arrow waited impatiently.

"C'mon, who do you wanna pick?" the boy whispered to the arrow hastily. The bus drove off as the final student exited the bus and the arrow started to swivel around uncertainly, almost overwhelmed by the number of possible Stand users.

It first landed on a pigtailed girl, then changed its mind and quickly pointed at a tawny-haired boy before making up its mind and changed its direction to point at a chocolate-haired youth.

"You want him?" an invisible green flame burst into existence as if to say yes. The boy smiled, "Then it's him I'll shoot then!"

The boy quickly retreated back into the monochrome puppet for a few moments and quickly reemerged back out with a bow. It was clearly shoddily made from a meter stick slightly higher than the boy himself with a string of green twine acting as the bowstring tied at each end.

Giggling excitedly, the boy quickly nocked the tree-patterned arrow to the bowstring and took aim. Delicately directing the arrow towards the brunet youth, the blond boy took fire.

The arrow landed squarely in Xander Bly's chest.

* * *

Sarah hummed cheerfully as she walked towards Jimmy's house with a basket of chocolate bars and sweet fruit candies in hand with a jawbreaker thrown in there to literally sweeten the pot. She had heard from Edd that Jimmy had accidentally fractured his knee on his way to their Cooking class and his mother had taken him to the hospital to get a cast.

A little sad since that meant Sarah had to endure the rest of the school day without his company but figured it was due for his monthly injury anyways. Bouncing as she walked towards Jimmy's house, she never would have guessed the next hour will pack so much action involving a pig and her best friend.

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **Yah-hah! Happy Early Halloween! 'Cause I'm sure as all hell that I'm not gonna get the next chapter out by then!  
**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this fight scene! I still have a shitload to learn about writing exciting action and battle sequences but I think this is pretty okay I guess! Hope you enjoy Tony and his Stand, as well as Xander, the mystery Stand kid and Sarah's upcoming piece of the action!**

 **Triple Stand Parameters time! This time with Eddy! Yay!**

* * *

 **STAND NAME: Acheron**

 **STAND MASTER: Febrie February**

 **Destructive Power:** **D+  
** **Durability:** **C-  
Range: A+  
Speed: C  
Precision: B-  
Developmental Potential: C**

 **Ability** **— Thought & Emotion Stealing and Supplantation: While individually by themselves Acheron is weak, its ability can allow its user, Febrie, to steal other people's thoughts, essentially leaving them forgetting about any thoughts they have whether it was in the past or the present, allowing Febrie to either control her opponents or tricking them into attacks that they would have otherwise learned about earlier or vice versa and implanting false thoughts and red herrings into its opponents' mind, causing them to misinterpret information. Its power to steal and supplant emotion can also throw off the opponents' attack tactics or impairing their ability should they have any.**

* * *

 **STAND NAME: Skid Row**

 **STAND MASTER: Tony Sampson**

 **Destructive Power:** **A- (Depends on Tony's current anger levels)  
Durability: D+  
Range: C  
Speed: B-  
Precision: B-  
Development Potential: E+**

 **Ability — Rage Empowerment: Skid Row's special Stand ability is to grow stronger the more its user, Tony, gets angrier in any situations. This ability isn't exclusively for Skid Row's use either, as even Tony's own strength was multiply by his power. Though this ability can be sharply countered if the user is forced into feeling happy or calm.**

* * *

 **STAND NAME: Smooth Criminal**

 **STAND MASTER: Eddy McGee**

 **Destructive Power:** **A+  
** **Durability: A+  
Range: C+  
Speed: B+  
Precision: D+  
Development Potential: B  
**

 **Ability — Replication: Eddy's Stand, Smooth Criminal, has the special ability of replication, i.e. it can create copies and replicas of any objects. Replicas have the exact same traits and qualities as the object Smooth Criminal has cloned and there is no limit to how quickly it can create copies. If Eddy wants, Eddy can manually get rid of the copies his Stand created and it would leave no trace behind. These objects aren't illusions however, they are as real as the objects they were cloned from and if he desires, he could make the copies permanent. There is a catch to this ability but it has yet to be discovered.**

 **Stand** **Cry : Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching...!**

* * *

 **So yeah! What do you think? Let me know what you think, okay? What do you think of the Stand cries? Until next time!**

 **(Also, I'm gonna be Yoshikage Kira for Halloween, so if any of you live next to me keep an eye out for an idiot who dyed his hair blonde with a suit and a ridiculous tie!)**


	13. Moratorium

**Chapter 12: Moratorium**

Sarah hummed a delicate tune as she walked towards Jimmy's home with a basket piled with candy in her arms. She bounced towards his door whilst keeping a careful hold on the basket, cautiously shifting the weight of the package on to her left arm as she knocked on the door with her right.

She waited patiently as Jimmy could be heard somewhere inside, yelling out a mellow, "Please wait a moment!" as he ambled around his house, finishing up errands as well as he could with a knee in a cast. Sarah delicately swung the basket in her hands around, watching it sway in her grip like a grandfather's clock pendulum. The cul-de-sac environment around her was somewhat quiet and yet not, residing in that hard-to-define grey area. Chatters of her fellow neighbors filled the air like the song of spring birds, various kids emerged from their houses to either carry out errands or enjoy the day after the literal hurricane that was Tuesday as Sarah stood there with a basket of candy waiting to be handed over to Jimmy as a get-well offering.

Hearing footsteps growing louder and closer to the door from within the house, Sarah quickly turned back around towards the front door while flipping a flyaway lock of her red hair over her shoulder just as Jimmy opened the door wide open.

"Oh, Sarah!" Jimmy said, a wide beaming smile on his face, "Come in, come in!"

Opening the door wider to allow Ed's younger sister entry, Jimmy stood a couple steps back as Sarah carefully allowed herself in, taking off her sneakers while saying a genuine, "Thank you," as she does so.

Perking up as she got her left shoe off, Sarah straightened up, "Oh, uhm..."

Awkwardly handing Jimmy her candy basket, Sarah spoke up with a sheepish tone, "Well, since I heard you got a broken knee from Double-D, I thought I'd give you something as a get-well present or something along those lines. I've been saving up my allowance lately but it was just laying around doing nothing, so I guess I'd rather that money be used for a good reason like this instead of ending up in Eddy's grubby hands. Heh heh..."

Jimmy stared at the straw basket of candy in his hands as though he was a jeweler appraising a diamond. A large, beautiful and radiant jawbreaker sat neatly in the center of the whole confectionary arrangement as the centerpiece, surrounded by smaller candy bars such as fudges with lots of nuts, chocolates of both milk and dark varieties as well as nougats, all arranged in a way that was evocative of a flower.

While Jimmy wasn't quite sure of the prices of some candy brands in the basket—having never really bought some of them himself—but with his knowledge of the ones he was sure of, it all easily exceeds three dollars in value; not forgetting to mention the more expensive name-brand candies thrown in there as well. Suffice to say, Jimmy was actually pretty overwhelmed by the lengths Sarah went to just wish him well.

While he was no stranger to Sarah giving him stuff as her way to say, "Hope you feel better." Aside from (rarely) verbally expressing it herself, her gestures were all usually far more restrained and subtle in nature, such as giving him bottles of water to tell him to stay hydrated or giving him boxes of takeout food from diners he had a particular fondness for. But until today, she never gave him something so carefully handmade by herself, usually gifting him her usual store-bought presents, so to speak.

Jimmy felt all degrees of confused inside, puzzling thoughts running rampant and swirling within his mind. What could have possibly warranted this abrupt change in character? While he definitely wasn't against the idea of Sarah growing kinder and more generous—in fact he is quite grateful for this new development—it was a little staggering to see the once mostly violent redhead girl who would display an unbreakable frontline of tough love at all times, rarely letting her emotional guard down, finally allowing someone to come closer to her, both physically and emotionally besides Jimmy himself.

The blonde boy released a barely visible smile on his face, one that closely mirrors his own Stand's smile before dropping it in favor of a more serene expression.

"Well, with all this candy, I don't think I can finish it on my own. Want a share of it?" Jimmy asked, "You made it yourself after all."

"Oh, sure," Sarah replied back cheerfully, "I can't eat too much though, mom's making lunch soon and I'd better save some stomach room for her food."

Long story short, they ate far too much candy. They had reclined themselves on Jimmy's daybed upstairs, candy basket in between the two of them and hands grasping out at the fudges and chocolates sitting in the basket, hungrily gorging themselves with the candies as the day passed them by. They chatted amongst themselves for what felt like hours, peeling off candy wrappers whilst exchanging remarks and jokes, discussing about their day as well as sharing harmless tidbits of gossip in between.

It was a simple and lighthearted moment, a moment that made Jimmy felt like the cast had already come off as he enjoyed the conversation. Having a pleasant chat with Sarah always made him feel like a million dollars, because close human contact was something he felt like he doesn't get enough of.

His mother worked as the head fashion designer for a particularly famous fashion brand—a career Jimmy had often thought about before rejecting it in lieu for something else—while his father was the coach of the local baseball team—A career Jimmy had absolutely no desire for and would gladly make sure things stay that way. While he does have a good—or at the very least neutral—relationship with the other neighborhood kids, it was rather...lacking, and not quite as close and personal as his relationship with Sarah was.

Honestly, even though his outward relationship with Kevin, Jonny, Nazz and Rolf may seem close and friendly at first glance, Jimmy really felt alienated on the inside—Kevin was an athlete and won't give Jimmy the time of day unless it's a special occasion, Jonny was just too weird for his cup of tea, Nazz, well, he had nothing against her and was honestly the only cul-de-sac kid besides Sarah he felt comfortable with. He has also started to bond with Rolf a little more closely nowadays, even if it was after sessions of long and arduous training. Honestly, if it wasn't for Sarah sticking her neck out for him, maybe he could be like the Eds.

Jimmy sighed and nibbled on the corner of a milk chocolate bar, staring out into the distance as he does so. The sun had started to move towards the west side of the sky, casting shadows behind objects to the east. The spring leaves swayed in the cool wind, waving like a flag woven by standard-bearer in the middle of a war. The blue sky darkened ever so slightly, and the clouds started to thin out, somewhat brightening the landscape of Peach Creek.

Sarah quickly shot a sideways glance towards the clock hanging on Jimmy's wall, "Oh shoot! I gotta go. Mom will get upset if I miss out on today's lunch."

"Ah, do you think I could come over and have a bit of food myself?" Jimmy requested, "I would cook something myself but I don't think making food with a cast on would be a good idea, hee hee..."

"Jimmy, you silly billy," Sarah said jokingly, "Why even ask if you know I'm going to say yes?"

"To hear you say yes?" Jimmy rebuffed teasingly, "So it's a yes, yes?"

"Yes!"

The duo of children giggled amongst themselves at their small joke as Sarah started to help Jimmy off of his daybed. After getting off of Jimmy's daybed, the duo started to make their way out of his abode, with Sarah carefully assisting him every step of the way. Sarah quickly slipped her dark pink sneakers on with ease and helped Jimmy with his own shoes, carefully putting them onto his feet. After getting Jimmy back upright, the two of them left through the front door after Jimmy quickly locked it behind him.

Jimmy and Sarah made their way through the road of Rethink Avenue with a happy smile on their faces and a jaunty spring in their step—or rather semi-limp in Jimmy's case. The sun started to edge ever-so-slightly closer to the western side of the skies, casting longer shadows towards the general eastern direction.

A cool breeze blew through the air and gently tousled both of Jimmy's curls and Sarah's locks, making them flutter in the air like scraps of paper in the wind. Jimmy took in a deep breath and appreciated the quiet serenity of the cul-de-sac in the late afternoon. He rarely got time to kick back and enjoy just how pleasant Peach Creek really is (aside from the occasional Stand users, that is) and frankly, Jimmy felt like he was missing out on a big part in his life just by blindly passing through the roads of his hometown without truly appreciating the finer nuances of its natural suburban beauty.

Honestly, Jimmy felt like he could gush for hours and hours on end about just how beautiful Peach Creek was if he had the time and if Sarah was willing to listen to him but he really doubted she would dedicate such a large portion of her schedule listening to him rambling on and on for three hours straight about the beauty of Peach Creek. Not to mention it would be a pretty big waste of time for him as well. Jimmy hummed and tapped his chin lightly; maybe he should consider expressing his appreciation of Peach Creek visually instead. A color pencil landscape drawing should do it justice.

Jimmy blinked himself out of his pensive mind-frame and watched as Sarah fumbled with a key. The girl quickly shoved it into the keyhole and with a swift turn of the wrist, she unlocked her front door for the two of them.

Jimmy moved his knees in an attempt to get himself inside Sarah and Ed's house before immediately realizing how bad of an idea it was. While his left leg moved effortlessly in front of him, his right knee politely reminded him it was fractured and contained in a mixture of cheesecloth and plaster by crashing into said mixture at full speed, causing his knee to scream out in pain and him to make a pleasant meeting with Mrs. Concrete.

Thinking quickly, Jimmy manifested Carousel's arms over his own, allowing it to break up both the impact of the fall as well as avoid the eventual Little Miss Broken Nose that he would have hung out with for the better part of a month if his face had met pavement.

While he managed to avert a nearly botched-up landing with the ground, since he had been suspended in the air by his arms—which looked way too much like push-ups—Jimmy started to tip over to the side, falling onto the left side of his body like a single domino.

Jimmy went red; God, how can he be so stupid and forgetful like that? How can a person forget that they're propped up on their hands?

The boy could only let out a single sigh at his own stupidity.

"Jimmy!" Sarah yelped in surprise, "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Jimmy mumbled, still sighing at his idiocy, "just wallowing in my own inanity."

Sarah awkwardly paused in place before walking towards the fallen Jimmy and pulled him back up into a standing position. Carefully supporting his frame, Sarah started to walk up the front doorsteps with Jimmy under her arm. Passing through the threshold and kicking their shoes off, Sarah called out, "Mom! I'm home!"

"Ah, Sarah! I'm in the kitchen!" a woman's voice shouted from the resident kitchen. Sarah turned to Jimmy, "You can handle yourself, right?" she asked worriedly.

"Yup!" Jimmy confirmed cheerfully, "Just go and see your mom!"

Sarah nodded and pulled her arms back from him, taking off towards the kitchen as she does so. Seeing the girl marching off towards the kitchen room, Jimmy carefully hobbled his way towards the dining room and dropped into a chair next to the dining table, sighing as he rested his head on his hand.

For some reason, he can't shake off a feeling of foreboding that was gathering in his stomach like condensation against cool glass. Jimmy never knew he had a second stomach when it came to disaster (that is if this sudden foreboding sensation of his proves to be correct) but he guessed it was merely part and parcel of being so accident-prone.

Jimmy corrected himself and sat up straighter. All he could really do now is wait and see if his gut feeling was right and not just a by-product of him being hungry.

The blonde boy hummed and tapped the table of the dining room with his index finger rhythmically, passing the time as the clock's minute hands move. Five minutes, then ten, twenty before finally striking the half-hour mark.

"Alright, we're done!" Sarah's mother called out from the kitchen. Jimmy turned his gaze towards the entryway of the kitchen and watched as Sarah and her mother strode in with plates piled high with food.

"Meatball spaghetti with bacon macaroni and cheese! With potato chips on the side!" Sarah called out, sounding mildly impressed with herself, "And some gravy and buttered toast for my lughead brother!"

Carefully arranging the plates and pots of food onto the table, Sarah and her mother wiped the sweat off their forehead and examined their handiwork pridefully.

"Sorry it took us so long, Jimmy!" Sarah's mother apologized, "Since Sarah told me you were coming over, me and my little girl had to dedicate a bit more time making the pasta."

"It's fine, I would have done the same myself," Jimmy laughed, "anyways, where's Ed?"

"In his room being Ed," Sarah stated dismissively, waving his question off casually, "I'll get the big guy. You guys make yourself comfortable and dig in."

The redheaded girl departed from the group and made towards the basement as the two started to prepare themselves for lunch. Sarah ventured downstairs towards Ed's basement/room and loudly knocked on the door.

"Ed, you idiot!" Sarah shouted, "Stop reading comics or watching shoddy 60's movies and get your butt out here now! Lunch's finished!"

There was a beat of silence behind the door before Ed sighed cheerfully, "Ahh, the good ol' days."

Sarah snorted and rolled her eyes before walking back up the stairs, re-entering the dining room after returning from the basement. Seating herself on one of the chairs, she stated, "He won't come up here until who knows when, so let's eat!"

The three of them happily dug into the meal, scooping up spaghetti and macaroni and piling it high on their plates. They cheerfully and lightheartedly conversed about various topics at school and work, teasingly ribbing each other as they nibbled at the pasta on their plates.

"So, Jimmy, you know about this one chick..."

"Oh Sarah my darling, you should hear about this one lady at my workplace today..."

"Hey Sarah, when I went to the doctor, I've seen..."

Somewhere down the line, Ed had joined the dining table and settled onto one of the chairs, piling about half of everything on his plate and seamlessly blending into the conversation in a way that none of them even noticed him entering.

"Hey, guys! Did you know me and Eddy went to the football field today?"

"That's nice dear."

"Hey Sarah, how was the fever?"

"Well, what do fevers feel like?"

Halfway through lunch, the Christensen residence's front door rattled in its frame loudly, causing Sarah to drop her fork in surprise.

"W—What was that about?" the Christensen matriarch mumbled in confusion.

"I'll get it; it's probably just Eddy trying to sell us something again," Sarah grumbled in irritation. Pushing her chair out, the youngest girl stomped towards the front door and angrily forced it open, coming face to face with the local Rolf.

"What do you want?" Sarah started annoyedly, tapping her feet against the floor.

"This is a matter of utmost emergency!" Rolf shouted in a semi-panic, "Where is the lacking-in-brain-smarts Ed boy and the delicate-tissue Jimmy boy?"

"Jimmy and Ed?" Sarah asked with an eyebrow quirked, "They're in the dining room—hey wait! You didn't even take your shoes off!"

The blue-haired boy disregarded Sarah completely and rushed into the dining room with wild abandon. The woman at the table grew surprised, "Are you one of Ed's classmates?"

Rolf ignored her as he did with Sarah, pacing hurriedly towards Jimmy and Ed, "There you two are! Quick! Hurry to the Son of the Shepherd's home! We have an emergency!"

"E—Emergency?" Jimmy stuttered.

"DID ROLF STUMBLE ON HIS WORDS LIKE A TINY LITTLE BABY?!" Rolf roared angrily, "Yes! Emergency! We must hurry there right now!"

Forcefully tugging the protesting Jimmy out of his seat and slinging him over his shoulder, Rolf dashed out of the Christensen residence at full speed, passing by the bewildered Sarah and spinning her on the spot like a ballerina. Ed, staring over his seat, quickly grabbed his dish and dumped everything down his gullet before leaving the house as well.

Sarah watched the three boys exited her house with complete befuddlement, scratching her hair in confusion.

"What was that all about?" Sarah uttered, "Emergency? What kind of emergency is it that needed him to literally whisk Jimmy off of his seat and take him to his house?"

Sarah hobbled to her feet unsteadily and started to slip her shoes on, "Now I'm curious. I gotta see what's going on with my own two eyes!"

The girl quickly departed from her house and chased after the two boys, yelling, "Hey wait up!"

Ed and Sarah's mother watched the youths departing her house with hints of amusement in her eyes, and sighed, "Is no one gonna eat my food?"

Her only answer was the barking of her neighbor's dogs against the backdrop of the evening sun.

* * *

Sarah hurried behind the trio of boys with reddened cheeks. God, what kind of emergency is so serious that it necessitates the thievery of her best friend? Did somebody run over his farm again?

The four of them finally passed through the doorway of Rolf's house and it closed behind them the second Sarah stepped over the threshold, slamming loudly against the wooden frame but when she looked back she swore she saw some sort of rocky arm reaching out and slamming the door shut. Is she hallucinating?

Shaking her head clear from the thought, Sarah began to shout, "Hey you jerk! Why didn't you slow down for me to catch up?!"

Ed somehow grew surprised, "Sarah? What are you doing here?"

The girl grew flabbergasted, "You seriously didn't hear me yell for you to stop?! Are you freaking hard of hearing or something?"

"But Rolf said it was an emergen—ugrk!" Before the boy could have a chance to finish up his sentence, Sarah reached up to his mouth and zippered it shut, preventing him from saying a single word.

"Why the heck did you whisk Jimmy off of his seat, mister?" Sarah berated the much taller Rolf angrily, "We were having a nice lunch until you butted in and take him away!"

Rolf stated in an almost whiny-like tone, "As Rolf has said before, it's an emergency!"

"Yeah, I heard you the first three times!" Sarah protested, "What kind of emergency is it though?!"

Rolf held his head on his hand, mulling over his response before deciding she would get the brunt of it.

"Wilfred has escaped! He has escape Rolf's pigpen and has made his flight!"

"Wilfred? Your stupid pig?" Sarah asked, "That's why you took Jimmy away? To find your dumb pig?"

Ed unzippered his mouth open, "We can't let Wilfred escape Sarah because he has a—" only for it to be zippered shut once again by Jimmy.

"A what? Rolf, tell me what's going on!" Sarah protested angrily.

Rolf sighed before he grabbed the two boys by the arm and gave Sarah only, "We need to deliberate on this before we could impart any more information. Excuse us please!"

Before Sarah could protest, Rolf quickly pulled Ed and Jimmy with him and back into his room, leaving Sarah alone with nothing but her confusion and mild anger.

* * *

Rolf threw the two boys into his room and closed the door behind him. The boys landed on the beds next to Edd and Eddy, causing both of them to jump in the air as Jimmy and Ed harshly landed on the mattress.

"Finally!" Eddy exclaimed, "Took you long enough!"

"We have only been waiting for two minutes though," Edd pointed out blandly even as Eddy continued, "What took you so long?"

"Jimmy boy wasn't at his house but Rolf saw him in the Ed-boy's house window—"

"That's kinda creepy," Ed piped up from the bed.

"—so he went to his house to pick up Jimmy-boy and Ed-boy." Rolf continued.

"So can we get a move on and get that porker already?" Eddy asked irately, jumping off of Rolf's bed.

"Not yet, greedy-and-impatient Ed-boy," Rolf stated, "we still need to discuss a topic involving she-who-gives-migraines Sarah first."

"The loudmouth little brat?" Eddy said in confusion, "What about her?"

"Sit down first," Rolf said, directing the boy towards the bed.

Eddy grumbled under his breath, "God you were pushing us to find Wilfred like the world's about to end but you're wasting time talking about the spoiled little brat." as he hopped back onto Rolf's bed.

The farmer boy took in the silence with a loud inhale and exhale, carefully steadying his nerves before stating, "Rolf believes Sarah may have a Stand."

Immediately all silence broke like a piece of cheap china as the boys clamored over each other, screaming for an answer or reason.

"What?! The brat has a Stand?!"

"But the arrow didn't pierce her!"

"My baby sister has a Stand?!"

"Why?!"

All the voices clamoring was sure to attract Sarah! Especially when her name's been brought up (or at least the general idea of her)! Rolf quickly waved his hands for silence and slowly but steadily all their voices quieted down.

"Let Rolf explain himself," he started, "first off, as you know by now, the ruby-haired Sarah-girl has gained herself a Stand. But! You may exclaim, Sarah has never been struck with the arrow at any time at all!"

"If she did, she would've told me," Jimmy stated in a matter-of-factly voice.

"Precisely. And even though Sarah, at no point in time, was in the crosshairs of the arrow, thanks to the chinless Ed-boy, she has gained a Stand."

"W—What do you mean?" Ed asked defensively, "Are you guys saying I shoot baby sister with the arrow?"

"No no no no no...let Rolf elaborate. Because the Ed-boy has struck himself with the Son of the Shepherd's arrow, because Sarah-girl shares his blood, she has inherited his potential for a Stand, allowing her to develop her own Stand. In short, Ed's Stand potential has been spread throughout his bloodline, allowing his family members to manifest their own Stand ability!"

"So you saying because Lumpy gets a Stand, everybody else in his family gets in on the Stand craze?!" Eddy asked in shock.

"This is very worrying!" Edd shouted, "If any Stand users in our peaceful municipality have any siblings or cousins, the number of possible Stand users we need to handle may be exponentially multiplied!"

"Why the hell do you keep important crap a secret after it became a problem?!" Eddy screamed angrily at Rolf.

"Rolf only remembers about inheriting Stand potential recently!" Rolf defended, "He only has his suspicions confirmed only after he saw Sarah turning around and saw his Stand closing the door!"

"Is that why Sarah has a fever when Ed got his Stand?" Jimmy asked in horror.

"Most likely yes," Rolf nodded, "when possible Stand users have yet to gain enough willpower to properly control their Stand, their power usually goes berserk and imbue their users a possibly fatal fever typically ranging from a few weeks to a little over two months. Stand users who have been afflicted can power through this fever if they have enough strength and willpower, so subsequently, they finally have proper control over their Stand ability."

Ed's face contorted into an expression of pure horror, "Does that mean I would have accidentally killed my baby sister?"

Rolf bit his tongue at the pure terror in his expression; he should probably abstain from saying yes in front of Ed, lest he goes insane from the fact he could have accidentally killed his younger sister. He turned as Edd started, "Then that gives us more of an incentive to track the arrow down! But first, we need to track Wilfred the pig first, lest he causes chaos among our town with his Stand!"

"What about Sarah?" Ed asked, voice uncharacteristically hushed.

Rolf bit his lips in thought mulling over the decisions he had laid in front of him. On one hand, since Sarah has little to no actual knowledge on Stands like Ed, Edd, Eddy and Jimmy, he doubted Sarah could be helpful in their hunt for Wilfred nor could she fight back if Wilfred decided to use his Stand. But on the other hand, she did prove herself to be Stand user—albeit unknowingly—and this hunt of theirs might help Sarah to develop her Stand. After all, Stands usually manifests themselves in moments of stress.

Even if Rolf said no, he doubted Sarah would take his words to heart and just walk away anyway. She might stalk them from behind and try to get Jimmy to leave with her the second they turned away from him.

"We'll let her come with us," Rolf finally said after what felt like an hour stretched across eternity.

"Why?" Eddy asked, "What's the purpose for letting the loudmouth tagging along with us?"

"Well firstly, if you are Sarah-girl, would you simply go home after Rolf simply told you so?"

"Well, I guess no since that—"

"Secondly, because we have Jimmy boy with us, she might try to follow us in secret to try to get him to follow her back to her abode for lunch."

"That makes sense but—"

"Thirdly, because she is a Stand user who has yet to awaken her Stand, this could be a great field opportunity for her to manifest her Stand ability."

"Okay, you—"

"Fourthly—"

"OKAY, I HEARD YOU! YOU MADE YOUR POINT NOW!" Eddy screamed angrily, "We'll let the frogmouth brat with a Stand tag along with us!"

"Hey!" Jimmy shouted, "Don't call Sarah a frogmouth brat!"

"Can we just collect the remnants of our common sense and start our chase for our rogue Sus domesticus please?" Edd begged from the bed, "We're wasting precious daylight here, people!"

"Yeah!" Ed piped up.

Rolf released a heavy sigh tinged with exhaustion; they hadn't even stepped a goat outside his home yet they're already squabbling like seven years old about Sarah.

"Very well then, steel yourself and excite your sense of adventure, because we'll now begin our trek for the escaped Wilfred!" Rolf shouted.

"Yeah!"

* * *

Sarah tapped her feet impatiently as she waited for the return of Jimmy. God, what are they even discussing about? The volume in Rolf's room spiked quite a few times and Sarah was certain she heard her name cropped up just as frequently as they talked about... something.

The youngest girl huffed and twirled a strand of crimson hair between her fingers; she just wanted to go home with Jimmy in arms, resuming their lunch again, darn it! Can't Rolf just do whatever he needs to do with the three neighborhood stooges?

Sarah tilted her head up in eagerness as she saw Rolf's door opening up with the five boys exiting his room. Finally!

"Hey, can Jimmy go back to my house with me now?" Sarah asked eagerly.

Rolf made a coy smile, "Not yet temper-smaller-than-an-elf Sarah-girl."

The smile fizzled away faster than light, "W—Why not?!"

"He..." Rolf started to pick the right words in his head, "owes Rolf a certain debt so to speak, and he is accompanying him with this venture to work off that debt."

"Can't he do it at a later time?" Sarah whined, "We're having lunch right now!"

"If you want, you can assist him in this adventure," Rolf suggested, "you can help detect Wilfred so Jimmy-boy can return from this trek farm sooner than he would with just the five of us."

Sarah bit her lips in thought; the thought is tempting if Jimmy really needed to help Rolf with finding the walking bacon supply, she could help them out and find Wilfred herself just to get it over with.

"Fine," Sarah allowed, "We'll find that fat little porker."

Rolf nodded in approval; that tallies up their group to six.

"Now without further ado, we'll begin our hunt for Wilfred!"

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **Hehe, sorry if the end feels a little rushed, I was kinda hurrying to get this one off the press so I could write Wilfred's chapter ha ha. Hope you enjoy it!**

 **P.S. Here's a fun little challenge for you readers; try to guess the musical references the Stands in this story are named after, as well as the name for Sarah's and Wilfred's Stands.**


	14. The War Pig

**Chapter 13: The War Pig**

Under the early evening light of Peach Creek, Eddy snorted in mild disbelief, "God this whole situation would seem so ridiculous if you take the context out of it. No, wait, scratch that, it's still ridiculous even with context."

Edd turned towards the stout boy behind him, "How so?"

"We're a bunch of twelve-years-old with magic astral projection powers that can punch stuff and use psychic powers. Right now? We're hunting a pig that can use the same freaky stuff that we can."

"It is admittedly a rather bizarre situation," Edd professed sheepishly, "but to be perfectly honest with you, I found myself surprisingly unfazed by much of this."

"Yeah!" Ed piped, "This reminds me of that magic boomerjigger that flew by our house once!"

"The what?" Eddy responded monotonously. Edd groaned and dragged his hand down his face.

"Sometimes I wish I can just dismiss that whole summer's day as a demented fever dream."

"Oh yeah!" Eddy laughed, "That boomerang from last summer! When you held it you turned into—"

Eddy had to clasp a hand over his mouth to restrain his sniggers, "A stripper!"

An explosion of laughter cut through the thick suburban air loudly as Edd blushed a fierce red at his remark. Gathering up his nerve, the genius prodigy sharply retorted with, "Well at least I didn't turn into a matriarchal figure that could put my mother to shame!"

Immediately half the source of the laughter came to an abrupt halt as embarrassment and anger settled in its place.

The once amicable conversation amongst the trio immediately devolved into a shouting match, the boys clamoring over each other as they flung insults and sass back and forth like machine guns, trash-talking each other like the world would end if they stopped.

From behind, Sarah eyed the squabbling Eds with thinly veiled irritation and turned towards Jimmy.

"So, Jimmy," Sarah started conversationally, "why are you guys looking for Wilfred?"

Jimmy fidgeted with his sweater's hem hesitantly, "I'm not really sure if I'm the right person to tell you," the boy admitted, "you should probably ask Rolf for that information. He's kind of our leader and expert in situations like this."

At the sound of this, Sarah pressed her lips together into a thin line before jogging towards Rolf's position up front at the group. She trusted Jimmy's words and Rolf does seem to be their leader figure so far, or at least the first one to take initiative.

"Hey Rolf," Sarah piped up as she briskly strode by Rolf's side, "Mind telling me what's so important about the little porker we're after?"

Rolf didn't even shoot her a glance when she asked her question, merely set his gaze determinedly forwards and trundled onwards in a straight path. The lack of a response almost scared Sarah and she was about to turn away back to Jimmy until Rolf finally said something.

"If…" the farmer boy started carefully, "If Rolf's suspicions prove to be correct, then you should see what's so significant about Wilfred if we find him."

"Can't you just tell me?" Sarah urged impatiently.

"If he simply tells you why finding Wilfred is so pivotal, you would surely reject his statement at once," Rolf rebuffed coolly, "it is much better to let you see with your own eyes what Wilfred has in his arsenals so you can't reject it."

Sarah didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She was hoping to get at least a single direct answer of what she's about to expect, but she came back out of that conversation with just as much information as when she went in. Heck, somehow it feels like she had less information than when she went in.

Ed's baby sister huffed in annoyance and started to lag behind the group in silent protest. A few moments slipped by her and the trees of the woods stood over them ominously, casting shadows over the small sextuplets. The darkness was encroaching on them as they continued their trek and it looked like with every few steps in, all light behind you will fade away faster than you could scream.

 ** _ドドドドドド…_**

Sarah stared into the trees vigilantly and bravely; she's not intimidated by the woods. She walked through those trees so many times she could recognize each one right off the bat! Sarah steeled her countenance and could hear Jimmy calming his breath down next to her.

"Be vigilant and observant," Rolf stated cautiously, "Wilfred is within the trees of our woods somewhere. He has the cover of darkness on his side, so ensure your vision is a sharp as a blade. Make sure you'll be prepared to give chase as well!"

His response was a group of nodding heads moving against the light of the slowly setting sun.

"We'll divide and conquer to find Wilfred," Rolf stated methodically, "there will be two groups; the first will be composed of the strength-of-ten-leaky-buckets Ed-boy, the delicate-and-precise Jimmy-boy, and the burning-rage-of-the-stars Sarah-girl. The second group shall be composed of the Son of the Shepherd, the sagacious Ed-boy and the avaricious Ed-boy.

"If any of us have detected Wilfred's whereabouts, use any method possible to contact the other group posthaste and try to corral him into an inescapable corner until the other group arrives.

"Now…" Rolf quickly banded together with Edd and Eddy while Ed, Jimmy, and Sarah huddled together, "the hunt begins…"

The two groups entered the woods after another moment of stalling and almost immediately a dense blanket of shadows enveloped the two groups. Rolf stared skywards and licked his index finger before holding it up in the air. Processing whatever information he gained from doing that, Rolf gestured for Eddy and Edd to follow him.

Ducking into the shadowy trees, Edd quickly turned his head around and mouthed out a voiceless, "Good luck," before fully disappearing under the leaves.

Seeing the trifecta departing from them, Ed awkwardly turned towards the younger pair of kids in his company, "So...um...I'm gonna lead you guys, okay?"

His only response was a sideways glance aimed at each other that stated a very clear message. We're doomed.

Either Ed didn't notice their exchange or straight up ignored it as he marched onwards further into the dark till his figure blended into the shadow, disappearing from their sights. Jimmy and Sarah quickly traded stares before hurrying after the jacketed boy.

The sky above them glowed a vivid orange and navy blue as the trio of children scouted out the trees of the woods. Cricket calls started to fill the evening air and the leaves rustled against each other, swaying in the spring breezes.

Sarah raised a hand and wiped off the sweat that was accumulating on her forehead. She still has absolutely no clue what about Wilfred was so significant to warrant an all-out manhunt—pighunt?—for him. For Rolf she could somewhat understand why he would want Wilfred back, it's his pig after all. But she couldn't fathom why everybody else has such a vested interest in bringing the pig back.

The girl shook her head to clear it of distracting thoughts; there's no need to overthink about why they needed to bring the stupid pig back. The solution is simple and straightforward, bring the walking bacon supply back to Rolf's farm, so why was she overthinking it?

Maybe it's the incredible vagueness of Rolf's statement or it was because of everybody being so dang secretive about the very task she was accompanying them for, but Sarah quickly rid herself of those unfounded thoughts. She was there to help bring the pig back, nothing more, nothing less, so she should stop overthinking it and get her mind in gear already.

The slightly water-soaked ground squelched under the soles of her shoes and she could see some tiny patches of loose mud scattered throughout the grounds of the woods. The Tuesday storm's aftermath was still obvious, if the occasional raindrops that slicked off the leaves of the trees, as well as the general more-humid-than-usual air, was any testament.

She could faintly hear the running water of the creek under the crinkling of leaves as well as the occasional ribbiting of the frogs in the water. In front of the duo of fourth-graders, Ed poked around a few shrubs that were scattered here and there and checked behind a few trees despite the futility of such a gesture. Jimmy fidgeted uncomfortably next to her and kept correcting his locks as it started to sag from the rainforest level humidity in the air.

Sarah let out a resigned sigh and rubbed her exposed forearms exhaustedly. While she had her fill of lunch and then some an hour or two ago, she felt tired for some reason. Not the same exhaustion one gets because of not getting enough sleep, but the kind of tired you'd get when you're so done with everything in your life.

How? Sarah asked herself. How did her life go so off the rails to the point of hunting for a pig because her immigrant farmer neighborhood friend had suggested it to her? The sheer ridiculousness of her situation was almost laughable, except Sarah didn't find herself chuckling. It was simply outright pathetic.

Jimmy abruptly tugged on her hand and pointed at the rapidly receding figure of Ed. Rushing hurriedly after his retreating shadow, Sarah huffed irately as the two of them finally caught up with Ed, who was once again checking among the branches and tree trunks for the rogue Wilfred.

Sarah halfhearted poked around a few bushes and scrubs while Jimmy scouted around the edge of the area they were occupying in. The girl absentmindedly wondered if Rolf, Edd and Eddy were faring any better than they do.

Rolf...For some reason, whenever Rolf crossed her mind, she started to think about the various oddities that had been happening recently.

First off. The ghost arms. What the heck are those things? Even though she had no idea if what she saw was even real or but a figment of her imagination, the vision of those phantasmic limbs kept flashing into the forefront of her mind and refused to disappear no matter how desperately Sarah tried to shake off her irrational thoughts.

Were they some kind of spirit or ghost? An angel? Or perhaps...a demon? Lists of esoteric beings crossed her mind as quickly as they appeared and Sarah just couldn't stop her mind from running wild based on a sighting she wasn't even sure was real.

Secondly, why was her hair constantly standing on end? It has been like that ever since she set foot inside the woods, but she had never really gave it any sort of conscious thought, it was more like a subconscious acknowledgement. She knew there was an air of foreboding that hung thickly in the air, but until now, she had never really thought about it.

How could a simple farm pig be the cause of so much unresolved tension in the air? She felt like she could walk headfirst into the wind and somehow it would push her back like a wall.

Jimmy lightly nudged her side, "You can feel it too, huh?" Jimmy asked sympathetically.

"Whether you're talking about the sheer tension in the air or just the humidity then yeah, I can feel it too," Sarah said sassily. Jimmy was completely unfazed by the snarkiness in her voice, if the somewhat lax tone and his ambivalent expression was any indication.

"I meant the unease in the air," Jimmy elaborated, now bearing a more uneasy expression, "can't you feel it?"

Sarah sobered up somewhat, "Yeah, I can feel it too. Dunno how a pig can make an entire place feel so uncomfortable."

"I have an idea but it would need you to know some…" Jimmy bit his lips as he continued, "esoteric knowledge."

Sarah felt the swell of disappointment growing in her, but pressed on, "C'mon! Whether or not I understand this easyteric knowledge, I'll at least try my best to wrap my head around it!"

"If Rolf's theories are correct," Jimmy continued on, ignoring her pleas, "then you should be like us. If Wilfred undoubtedly decides to fight back, then you should see it."

"See what?" Sarah cried out, feeling more confused than ever, "All you're doing is beating around the bush! Why can't you just tell me exactly what's going on?!"

"I know and I can't," Jimmy sighed, "trying to explain the whole situation to you without you knowing what we know…"

Jimmy pursed his lips, desperately trying to pick out the right words to say.

"It'll…" the boy stopped after the first word and sighed in mild frustration, like he was disappointed in himself, "Well, you won't believe what I say unless…"

Jimmy's words trailed off at the end before shaking his head, continuing with a minute more confidence, "No, it's probably best that you see what Wilfred can do yourself."

Sarah stared at Jimmy with uncertainty and sighed, saying, "I'll just take your word for it I guess," before she proceeded to check the perimeter around them for the missing pig. Jimmy bit his lips uneasily before sighing heavily, checking a few shrubs around their general area.

The trio of children examined the area around them rather thoroughly and made sure every tree and shrub was checked twice at the very least. They moved onto another section of the woods and repeated the process once again, double-checking the foliage as thoroughly as they can. Once or twice they crossed paths with Rolf's group where they quickly exchanged some information and asked some questions.

Would they need to camp out? Edd responded with unlikely.

Where would Wilfred hide? Rolf answered with anywhere.

When would they go home? Eddy had mumbled out 'as soon as they find the hog.'

The group parted once again as Ed, Jimmy and Sarah drew away from Rolf, Eddy and Edd. The evening sky above them faded into the dark of early night as the moon emerged from the horizon. Bright stars began to dot the night landscape as wispy strips of clouds moved across the deep blue expanse. The three kids examined their wooded surroundings at least twice before they moved onto another section and checking it twice again. The group repeated process at least three more times in three different sections of the woods.

Sarah sighed as the boys around her searched around her fruitlessly. Why are they even bothering to find the pig in this low light setting? It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, for God's sake!

Sarah breathed out heavily in irritation, feeling exhaustion tugging at her consciousness. The cloud moved away from the moon and the moonlight streamed down on the forest like a spotlight, filtering through the leaves and sending pillars of blueish white all over the forest floor like stage lights, illuminating small portions of the dirt ground.

The somewhat waterlogged ground glinted slightly under the light of the moon and reflected light back at her. Some patches of moonlight reflected more than others but they all glowed a faded white all the same.

Except...one patch of muddy dirt seemed somewhat...disturbed. There was a line of what appears to be lily-pad shaped footprints only slightly bigger than a quarter running down the middle of the mud patch. It disappeared as soon as it reached the edge but another line of hoof prints ran through another patch of dirt just behind it from Sarah's perspective. When she looked at other patches close by, she noticed some of them had curved lines consisting of the very same hoofprints that made up the first one.

Sarah traced her finger from the first mud patch and continued forwards, connecting it with other lines of hoofprints as she went on. She felt excitement welling up in her heart as she followed the trail closely, following the line of hoofprints as she does so.

The line wasn't exactly straight; it turned, it twisted, it changed angles, it curved into a semi-circle quite a few times and Sarah found herself looping right back to where she started. Somehow, in some strangely intelligent way, Wilfred the pig had somehow managed to misdirect her just by going over his steps another time and changing his directions accordingly.

Sarah found herself partially gobsmacked by the intelligence that Wilfred has displayed. H—How? How can a simple farm pig be so darn cunning?

Shaking her head once more to clear her bewildering thoughts, Sarah went over the trails once more, carefully tracing her finger over the lines of hoofprints as she does so. Avoiding the same line that had lead her back to the beginning, she changed directions when it forked and traced her finger down another path.

It continued far beyond the area they were surveying and Sarah quickly shot a glance behind her. The two boys still examined the bushes and trees intimately, ensuring no shrub was left unchecked and no stone left unturned. Quickly directing her attention back at the trail of hoofprints, Sarah followed the lines as closely as she could, using her intuition to connect to some farther away lines.

Prints snaked around some of the shrubs and trees and Sarah could practically read the intent in those lines. It was clear that Wilfred had foreseen the kids chasing after him and acted accordingly, changing and snaking his trail as erratically as possible in an attempt to misdirect the kids.

Sarah shook her head; no matter what that stupid hog tries to do, it's completely useless, especially now that she's got its trail. Following the track closely, Sarah followed it to the very end to find it leading to...nothing.

The ruby-haired girl felt her jaw about to drop to the ground and rubbed it sorely before returning to goggling at the sudden dead-end trail.

"Where is it?!" Sarah wanted to scream, feeling her anger rising up her throat rapidly before forcing it back down, resurfacing as a particularly violent cough instead. She frantically scanned the area around her, desperately looking for any more hints of Wilfred.

She couldn't have being misdirected again! There were only two trails! Sarah thought, baffled as she desperately swiveled her head around, searching for any trace of the pig.

"Where is it?!" this time, Sarah couldn't control herself as she screamed out in frustration. Jimmy and Ed shot their heads up, understandably startled.

"W—What's wrong Sarah?" Sarah heard the delicate boy questioning her. She tried to slow down her hyperventilating breath—when did she even start to hyperventilate?—before turning around and plastering an obviously strained smile across her face.

"It—It's nothing," Sarah said despite the somewhat trembling tone of her voice. Jimmy frowned; she was obviously lying, but he found himself saying, "If you insist," before he had any proper bearing on his thoughts.

Seeing the boy turning his head away from her, Sarah turned back at the abruptly cut-off trail in frustration. How?! How can a single pig display so much intelligence despite being a dirty, common domesticated farm animal?! Sarah wanted to screech. It's just a freaking pig!

Slamming her balled-up hands and pounding them against the ground, Sarah dragged them across her face in complete aggravation. She wanted to scream—no, she wanted to howl in anger from the fact that some pig managed to trick her.

Groaning, she let her hands drop back onto the ground but quickly recoiled as her fingers accidentally brushed some sort of dip in the dirt. Intrigued, Sarah slowly scanned down where her hand had rested a few seconds earlier and carefully traced her finger down into the dip of the earth.

Sarah reoriented herself and examined the dip more closely; it wasn't just a small hole, she realized. It was wide but thin, like the chocolate wafers that she likes to indulge in often. It was set somewhat deep into the earth and the sides of it was somehow near-perfectly parallel.

Wait, she thought as she focused her gaze even more. There wasn't just one of those dips, there was a whole trail of them, all laid in a near-perfect line that had lead away from the initial trail of hoofprint that she had followed earlier. Wracking through her mind, Sarah realized that they looked a lot like—

"Treads?" Quizzically frowning, Sarah placed a finger back down into the tread trail. Whatever it was, it was definitely fresh. Not made only a few minutes earlier fresh, but definitely within the past day. The tracks likely weren't organic either; it simply felt too...unnatural to be found in your everyday woods and for some reason, deep in her heart, she was certain that Wilfred was somehow the cause of the treadmarks.

Carefully standing up, Sarah cautiously stalked the treadmarks as it wound its way throughout the woods. It circled a tree and Sarah followed it, it zigzagged its way around but Sarah remained undeceived. It twisted and turned, but all it did was make Sarah more determined and confident.

Finally, it lead her towards a multitude of bushes, all conveniently hiding in the shadows of the tree. The moonlight struck it overhead, causing a large shade to drape over it and obscuring it from view. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that the treadmarks had lead her straight to the bushes, Sarah would have probably just have passed them without another thought.

Sarah gazed upon the bushes with some sort of twisted triumph. No matter what that pig has done, she's probably found it. She stepped closer.

The leaves quivered ever-so-slightly.

Sarah took another step.

She could hear breathing from it.

Sarah was only a single meter away from the bush.

She could hear quiet oinking from the branches.

Biting her lips, Sarah plunged her hands into the branches and forcefully parted the leaves.

A god awful squealing pierced through the early night air, nearly causing Sarah to stumble backwards from the shock. The shrub shook violently as a blurry pink shape jumped out from within its leaves and tried to make its flight, prompting Sarah to reflexively tackle the pig to the ground.

"Ed! Jimmy!" Sarah cried out loudly as Wilfred writhed and flailed around in her arms, oinking in panic, "Get your butts over here ASAP! I found the pig!"

There was no response for the next few moments and Sarah had thought her call didn't manage to reach her two male escorts. She briefly considered screaming out again before a dopey voice called back, "Imma coming, Sarah!"

Grunting as the pig tried to kick her in her face, Sarah's grip held steadfast and didn't show any signs of weakening. Hearing faint thumping of shoes against dirt growing closer, Sarah yelped as the pig tried to nibble his way out.

"Urgh, feisty little hog aren't cha?" Sarah asked rhetorically, even as the pig started to slip out of her hold.

Finally, Ed arrived into the scene, heroically shouting out, "It is I, the great—"

"Shut up and help me get this porker under control already!" Sarah screamed angrily as the pig got closer to escape.

But before Ed could get any closer, a large blue, translucent semi-circle encompassed Wilfred like a protective shield. Sarah grew surprised; what was happening?!

The pig squealed even more intensely now, causing the barrier to shine more luminously and forcing Sarah to squint to see past the light and what the heck was going on. The girl felt absolutely confused to her very core of her being; okay, seriously, why in the world was the darn pig glowing, what in the everloving heck was going on?!

The 'barrier' pushed against her arms strongly and she felt her grip weakening as it did so. Wilfred gave out another squeal before the blue barrier sharply expanded outwards, breaking Sarah's hold on him before rupturing brightly in an explosion of azure, blinding the siblings while throwing both of them back.

Sarah shut her eyes and tried to blink off the sudden shock of electric blue that had swarmed her vision. When the haze finally wore off, Sarah blinked in surprise and shock when she realized Wilfred was no longer in their clearing.

"Burrururururr…" she heard Ed shudder next to her and turned her head to see the boy collapsed in a heap. The two of them laid down, almost unwilling to stand up, only stirring from their shock as Jimmy, along with Rolf's team, arrived on the scene.

"I called Rolf over when Sarah said she found the pig," Jimmy explained but paused when he saw the two of them collapsed in a pile, "w—what happened?"

"...before your questions, let's get to mine first," Sarah stated firmly, "First off, what the heck just happened with Wilfred?! That stupid pig just—" Sarah started to stammer as she tried to find the right words to describe the abnormal phenomenon, "glowed blue and exploded!"

"Glowed blue and exploded?" Edd repeated, quizzical.

"It was like some kinda barrier," Ed chimed in, appearing no worse for the wear, "it made Sarah lose her grip, and then it exploded and threw us back."

"A barrier ability?" Rolf hummed and placed a finger on his chin, stroking it.

"Are you ignoring me?!" Sarah fumed, losing her temper, "I just asked you what the heck was wrong with that pig!"

As though they were just realizing Sarah was in the clearing, Edd spoke up after a few seconds, "We have no time to waste on informing you here, we'll explain as we give chase to Wilfred." he shifted his focus to Ed, "Ed, do you remember in which direction did Wilfred run off to?"

Frowning and closing his eyes, Ed raised his arm and pointed at the left side of the clearing, "I think I heard Wilfred ran that a-way guys,"

Rolf nodded and quickly turned before setting off at a run, prompting the other five kids to follow him from behind. The sextuplets rushed into a gathering of branches and leaves at full speed, uncaring of the low-hanging twigs bending and striking them in the face like miniature whips.

"So—ow!" Sarah started, yelping at a branch that had slapped her in the face, "What's the deal with—hey watch it, fathead!—Wilfred anyways—Ouch!—and his crazy barrier power?!"

"Wilfred's barrier ability as you have called it," Rolf called from the front, apparently unfazed by the sharp twigs bending and slapping him in the face, "is a type of psychic ability called a Stand!"

"Stand?!" Sarah echoed, brushing off a leaf that had landed on her face, "Psychic ability?! You saying your dumb pig is some sort of fortune-teller or something?!"

"No, short-tempered Sarah-girl!" Rolf hollered back, "A Stand is an expression of your soul, your life force given a form to manifest in and a vanguard of your spirit!"

"What?!" Rolf's eloquent words are just making her confused.

"Basically, a Stand is some sort of guardian spirit made by your fighting will! They always have some sort of wacky superpowers that you can use anytime!" Eddy simplified, yelping as a large branch nearly walloped him over his head.

Suspending her disbelief for the time being, Sarah went quiet as the group continued to run headlong into the woods, forsaking the well-traveled trails for the densely packed understory in pursuit of Wilfred.

* * *

To the local population of Peach Creek, the surrounding woods was nothing more than a naturalized border, the lush trees and shrubs a lovely backdrop to the cul-de-sac that some call home. A handful ever intentionally venture into the woods, save for the kids seeking an adventure beyond the comforts of urban developments. All in all, not many people paid any heed to the forest, it simply existed around them as a pretty background sight, nothing more, nothing less.

But for six of the residents, the forest that once was just a simple bit of nature is now the scene of pure, unadulterated chaos.

Six pairs of shoes find themselves just barely managing to traverse the muddied landscape, soles slipping and sliding over the slick ground, laces catching on exposed roots and balance coming undone with every misstep. The six ran in a single file, clumsily blazing a trail through the underbrush as they desperately tried to keep up with their pink adversary ahead. Where the pig expertly navigated through the thick foliage, hooves practically gliding above the leafy earth, the six kids found themselves running into branches and tripping over stones, faces scratched by whipping twigs as their bruised legs tried to push on despite the steadily growing fatigue. Moonlight streamed in through what little gaps the forest had, six kids and a single pig blocking out the rays, casting momentary passing shadows, illuminating the frantic chase beneath.

"Why didn't any of us bring hiking equipment?!" Sarah cried out, sharply squeaking as another branch materialized in her peripherals and nearly cut her on the cheek.

"Uhhh, 'cause none of us expected this to turn into a wild pig chase?!" Eddy screamed back, turning around and forcing his exhausted grimace into a sarcastic frown.

Sneering, Sarah yelped as another rock embedded into the earth nearly caused her to lose her footing, offset balance making her jerk forwards, nearly causing Jimmy in front of her to stumble.

Despite their increasing exhaustion, the thought of giving up the chase was absent from their minds. Even as their feet continually begged for respite and their lungs threatened to collapse within their rib cages, they kept pushing on, despite Wilfred steadily gaining a substantial lead ahead of them.

The pig shot a glance backwards; even though he was starting to lose the cul-de-sac kids, the burning determination in their eyes had made it abundantly clear that they will not be stopping any time soon. Even if he managed to throw them off of his tracks for now, they would simply take the time to recuperate and give chase to him later.

He needed to think! How can he get them off of his literal tail?

Wilfred saw a puddle of mud a little ways away from his position and doubled his speed, hooves working overtime and kicking into high gear. Scrambling towards the mud patch, Wilfred bid his time as the kids approached.

Almost...the kids got within a few meters…..3 meters….2...and...

Now!

Turning tail, Wilfred squealed loudly and bucked up the dirt beneath him, kicking the mud into the air. His aim struck true, the mud sailed in a perfect arc, landing on the face of the kid in front, causing him to screech to an abrupt stop, the other kids slamming into his back with all the grace of an off-roading, speeding train.

Satisfied, the pig oinked tauntingly and made his escape.

Collectively groaning, the kids writhed in a pile and reflexively pushed themselves out of the tangle of arms and legs, only to accidentally push each other back down into the dust of the dirt. Slowly untangling themselves from the dogpile one at a time (and spitting out any stray bits of dirt and pebbles in their mouths), the six quickly redoubled their chase efforts.

"That Sus domesticus," Edd hissed as he wove between the tree trunks alongside his friends, "Wilfred is displaying an abnormal amount of cunning and smarts! Far more than a common pig should!"

"W—What do you mean?" Ed asked, bashing and splintering through a tree branch.

"Think about it!" Edd said, "When Sarah found his trail, she said that it was formed to specifically throw off any would-be pursuers that may chase after him! It was like he had somehow anticipated our hunt and accordingly made his preparations!"

"In English please?!" Ed cried back.

"That means it was like Wilfred somehow knew we're going to go after him and had doubled back on his trails on purpose!" Edd shouted, frustrated, "Not to mention that gambit of his earlier! That mud toss! No ordinary pig could have come up with that stratagem!"

"We're not dealing with any ordinary pig here, Sockhead!" Eddy yelled before gasping, "Three o'clock, incoming!"

Edd distractedly turned to his right and gasped too; a vivid luminescent blue barrier turned on its side screamed loudly at them, crackling with electric-sounding noises. It sliced seamlessly through multiple twigs and branches like a hot knife through butter, surging in their direction at a mind-boggling speed.

Rolf narrowed his eyes, "So these are the barrier capabilities of Wilfred's Stand power. Rolf sees...in that case, Amarillo Sky!"

Immediately, the minotaur-esque entity burst forth from Rolf's body. Sarah's eyes dilated to the sizes of tea saucers; Th—Those arms, she's seen them before! Yes, she was sure of it!

Before she could comment on the stony arms, the barrier had gotten ungodly close, reoriented so that its bright shimmering surface was facing their immediate trajectory. Before any of them could scream, Rolf yelled out and the minotaur being lashed out, its large bulky arms striking the vibrant surface.

A ripple spread out from the point where Rolf's entity had struck it and concentrated into a single point, gathering into a white orb of light. Immediately it jumped into the air as a luminescent copy of the arms that had struck it earlier materialized thrusting the arm replicas forwards. Soon afterwards, however, the ethereal limbs split as though a ginormous ax had cleaved it vertically before the barrier it emerged from followed suit, fracturing into two more-or-less equal halves.

Rolf stood, unintimidated as the two glowing semi-circles with fists protruding from it veered off track, momentum shifting into horizontal movement as the two pieces drifted safely away from the ragtag group, dissipating into nothingness after a few moments.

The charges behind him gaped in various, inconsistent emotions. Surprise. Then awe. Respect. Confusion. More confusion. It was only a few seconds later until Sarah found her voice again, "What the heck was that about?! First a magic glowing barrier pig, and now Rolf has some sort of magic spirit powers?! Seriously, I need an answer here people!"

"Do you really think the middle of the woods with a quote-unquote, 'magic glowing barrier pig' loose is the best place to have an explanation?!" Eddy yelled angrily, "Save your confusion for later, we have a hog to put back in the pig pen here!"

"Can it, fog-horn mouth! I want answers!" Sarah shouted; she ain't gonna be able to do jacksquat if she's gonna stay in the dark forever!

"We know your need for answers, especially after the barrier ordeal," Edd stated, bouncing from foot-to-foot, "but as Eddy said, we simply can't hold a proper explanation here. It is imperative to capture Wilfred first and have him back under our custody, and then and only then we can afford to give you a proper explanation."

Sarah opened her mouth to protest once more, but the five boys had already dashed off without her. Grumbling loudly, she quickly set off at a run behind the boys.

A few moments passed them by before Wilfred materialized back into their range of vision, frantically scuttling as far away from them as possible. Rolf grunted and in a burst of speed, had quickly closed the gap in between them, subsequently leaving the five other kids behind.

Oinking in frustration, Wilfred abruptly changed angles, throwing Rolf off in surprise before grunting, accordingly changing his direction so he was once again on Wilfred's metaphorical tail.

The pig however, quickly darted under a group of low-hanging thick branches. Rolf widened his eyes; he was so tunnel-visioned on Wilfred he hadn't even noticed them! The farmer boy tried desperately to stop his forward momentum but he felt his legs being forced to march onwards. He was going too fast for him to stop now!

"Oh no no no no no no—" Rolf chanted under his breath before bracing himself, ramming headlong into the bundle of branches at full speed. A loud, disturbing crack followed by a series multiple smaller snaps pierced the air as Rolf crashed into the branches, curling up into a small fetal position to minimize any more injuries.

"Rolf!" Edd cried and huffed, pushing his lanky frame to its maximum speed. Rushing to Rolf's side, Edd called out, "Rolf, are you okay?"

Carefully prying apart his arms, Edd gasped at the multiple cuts decorating his face. Multiple red gashes scattered across his cheeks like sprinkles on a donut, some bleeding more than others upon closer inspection. A particularly large cut sliced across the skin of his left cheek and one of his nostrils was bleeding slightly.

"Oh my," Edd gasped, "We need to clean these cuts or else they might get infected!"

"No!" Rolf harshly spat out, shakily getting to his feet, "Rolf can endure these cuts easily. He has wore more severe injuries before. Wilfred takes initiative!"

Awkwardly hobbling to his feet, Rolf quickly darted after Wilfred's general direction, apparently indifferent to the cuts on his face. Sensing the other kids catching up behind him, Edd gave a hesitant sigh and quickly hurried in pursuit of Rolf.

Eddy gasped, "What the heck is Stretch thinking? He's turning away from Wilfred!"

Jimmy tried to peek around the taller Ed in front of him and gave a tiny gasp; like Eddy had said, Rolf veered off-track, turning away from Wilfred's trail and had run parallel next to the hog, carefully maintaining space in between them.

Wilfred squealed and a semi-visible figure manifested, shadows draping over it, rendering it nearly invisible to the naked eye. Another squeal rang out and a vivid blue energy surrounded the domestic pig. It concentrated into a disc of ethereal energy and launched itself straight towards Rolf's direction, screaming out as it did so.

Rolf yelled out a battlecry, and Amarillo Sky burst forth at his beck and call, ready for the incoming force field. The barrier was only a few feet within his vicinity, but Amarillo Sky had already taken initiative and struck at it with its fist, pummeling it whilst calling out an odd battlecry.

 _ **"Goro goro goro goro goro goro!"**_ Amarillo Sky roared gutturally, pillar-like arms striking the glowing plate with unbridled force. Like what happened before, the shield glowed vividly and a copy of the arms that had struck it manifested into being. Before it could strike the son of the shepherd, a wide line crossed the barrier vertically and split it into two halves, causing it to veer off in two different directions.

However, one of the halves came veering towards Eddy and the other kids, prompting Eddy to summon Smooth Criminal's arms and knock it away from them, baffling Sarah even further. The half disintegrated into thin air a distance away as Eddy shouted, "Watch it, Captain Ahab!"

Rolf grumbled out a quick apology and finally caught up with the frustrated Wilfred. Eddy called out as he sprinted towards the two of them, "What the hell even is Rolf's angle at this? He's just running next to Wilfred, not behind him!"

Rolf roared loudly and Amarillo Sky matched with a piercing cry. Wilfred staggered back from the volume as though Rolf was approaching him with a butcher's knife before Rolf and his Stand surged forwards with an unbelievable speed. Amarillo Sky cocked its fists back before rushing forwards in a barrage of blurry fist-like pistons.

Wilfred oinked in shock and quickly generated another barrier to stand between him and the barrage. Edd's eyes widened in comprehension, "I get it now! Rolf ran parallel next to Wilfred for a reason!"

 _ **"Goro goro goro goro goro goro goro goro goro!"**_ Amarillo Sky belted out multiple cries at insane speeds, pummeling the barrier standing between its user and the pig, causing multiple white ripples to appear throughout the surface of the shield.

Letting loose one more cry, Amarillo Sky poured all of its destructive power straight into the center of the shield via a punch, thrusting its fist straight into the center of the barrier.

The barrier glowed a vivid azure hue and a fist, more solid and tangible than the rest, sailed fruitlessly through the air to try and harm its attacker. But the sheer strength behind the strike sent the barrier—along with its source—flying through the air.

Wilfred let out a piercing squeal that cut through the forest before crashing into a clearing as the shield vanished.

"He was running parallel to Wilfred to get a good angle to strike his barrier, and send him flying!" Edd shouted, "He must have spotted that clearing and waited till they had lined up to corner Wilfred there!"

"Hurry up, Wilfred's stunned! Let's get him while he's still dazed!" Jimmy cried. The five children quickly regrouped with Rolf and hurried towards the dazed farm pig.

Seeing the five children approaching him, knowing his freedom is at stake, Wilfred let out one loud, anguished squeal. The six kids paused briefly before resuming their run as Eddy screamed, "Guys, I think Wilfred's gonna—!"

A dark, ivory haze flowed from the hog's body like a river before it solidified into his Stand. A primarily mechanical, terracotta-colored boar-like being. High as Rolf's abdomen and as wide as Jimmy and Sarah's body emerged, with a distorted effigy of a wild boar for its head, studded with nails and spikes, screwed onto what's supposed to be its neck.

Where its hind legs were supposed to be, caterpillar treads replaced it, giving the entire entity a mechanical look. Multiple disc-like structures protruded from its back and mechanical forelegs, emanating a bright turquoise light.

Sarah's felt her throat seize up, and her heart hammering a million-miles-per-beat rhythm, "That's—that's—"

Wilfred gave an oddly human like squeal that sounded like he said, _"War Pig!"_

* * *

 **STAND NAME: War Pig**

 **STAND MASTER: Wilfred the Pig**

 **Destructive Power: C+**  
 **Durability: A+**  
 **Range: D**  
 **Speed: B-**  
 **Precision: D-**  
 **Development Potential: C+**

 **Ability: Energy Constructs**

* * *

"Move, you loudmouthed brat!" Eddy screamed, tackling Sarah out of the way of an incoming barrier projectile.

"W—What is that?!" Sarah wailed in shock, feeling her body seizing up.

"Wilfred's Stand you moron!" Eddy sharply berated, summoning his Smooth Criminal, "Did you really think we were lying about that whole psychic power shebang?!"

"Yes!"

"Tch!" As Smooth Criminal sharply backhanded an incoming barrier away, Eddy pushed the protesting Sarah away from the clearing, "How about you make yourself useful by getting the hell outta here and being useless somewhere else?"

"I'm not—Eek!" Feeling her footing offset by some randomly placed gnarled root, Sarah ducked down just as an ethereal projectile came whizzing overhead, missing her by a literal hair.

Eddy spat, "Case and point! You can't even summon your Stand!"

"Well stop jabbering away and actually explain how to me!"

The boy opened his mouth but quickly sidestepped to the side as a barrier meteored towards him. Sarah clumsily scrambled to her left but the barrier grazed her shoe, taking it off and launching it somewhere into the foliage of the woods.

"Just figure it out on your own!" Eddy called out before jumping into the fray, his Smooth Criminal's fists at the ready.

Sarah wanted to scream, 'That's not very helpful!' but found the words catching in her throat as she scrambled out of the way of another energy projectile. Frantically stumbling to her feet, Sarah kept a careful distance between herself and the commotion, looking on with both awe—and trace amounts of horror—as phantom-like beings materialized into reality.

 ** _"Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching!"_** Smooth Criminal's punches sailed through the air, striking Wilfred and his War Pig without restraint. Immediately, War Pig generated a shield in between them, unflinchingly tanking the brutal strikes.

Grunting, Smooth Criminal jumped back as the barrier turned white and multiple phantom strikes lashed out, failing to find its mark. Edd yelled, "Exercise caution, Eddy! War Pig's barrier is completely impervious to physical attacks! It reflects any attacks back at the user!"

Jimmy cracked a wavering smile and Carousel emerged, grabbing a stone as it did so, "If punches and the like won't work, let's try ranged projectiles instead!"

Carousel rolled its right arm back, exposing its mechanical mannequin-like arms as it prepared its throw. With a loud cry, Carousel hurled the stone at full power, sending the rock hurtling towards War Pig's shield.

Wilfred snapped his gaze towards the incoming projectile and War Pig accordingly adjusted its barrier, facing the speeding stone head on. The rock struck the ethereal surface and it let out a loud, keening noise like a computer blue-screen.

Immediately the stone changed trajectory, hurtling towards Carousel instead. Thinking quickly, Ed intercepted the stone's path and knocked it away with the back of his hand, sending it flying into a bush instead of into Jimmy's face.

"Projectile attacks won't work either…" Jimmy murmured, slightly unnerved.

Wilfred squealed angrily and War Pig's maw started to glow with an ominous turquoise light. Rolf unsteadily took one step back, and another, feeling his hair standing on end. Not good.

A loud, unworldly whirring filled the air the more intense the light grew, practically dousing every surface of the clearing with an unbearably bright supernatural hue. War Pig, after another moment, expulsed the light from its mouth, manifesting into reality as a spear of ethereal glass.

"MOVE!" Rolf hollered.

"GAH!"

The boys immediately scattered, frantically pushing each other out of the way as the luminous projectile shot through their former positions, through the empty space that was once occupied by the five cul-de-sac boys.

Sarah screamed and barreled out of the way of the crackling lance, watching it spear past her and embed itself deep into a tree, shattering into thin air.

The red headed girl watched with abject horror; if she delayed her reaction just a second later...well, she wasn't sure if it was harmful enough to mortally wound her but she knows for a certain fact that she would not have come out of that unscathed.

"Rolf! Can you, I dunno, do whatever you did earlier and try and break that thing's barrier?!" Sarah called out, peeking out meekly from a tree trunk.

Rolf glanced warily at Wilfred; could his ability work even when Wilfred is directly controlling his shields?

"Nothing to lose," the farmer boy murmured under his breath and quickly rushed forwards. Amarillo Sky's hands were clenched into fists and they landed squarely onto the shield as Rolf willed his power into working.

A small clean rip materialized into the barrier, but only for an infinitesimally short second before the gap refilled itself, followed by an agonizing sensation of something cutting across his chest as Rolf instinctively screamed, drunkenly stumbling back.

He heard drops of blood dripping onto the ground like the world's most demented rainfall. Rolf placed a tender hand on his chest and stared downwards, only to almost scream again in horror; a wide cut sliced across his breast deeply, perfectly and unnaturally clean with surgical precision. It was deep, half an inch perhaps and sang with resounding pain.

"Oh my goodness, Rolf!" Edd screamed. Rolf kept staring at his wound; no...even when he used his ability on himself, it never harmed him! Wilfred's War Pig's barrier, it had turned his ability against him!

"Move your asses!" Eddy quickly grabbed the collar of the two boys' shirts and tugged back with all his might, pulling them out of the way of an incoming spear and away from the fight. Grunting in pain, Rolf placed a hand over his wound and concentrated as Edd tended to him.

Wilfred scrambled onto War Pig and its treads started to rumble like a motorcycle. Kicking up dust, War Pig hurled itself straight at Eddy with wild abandon.

 ** _"Ka-ching!"_** Smooth Criminal immediately jumped back into the action and threw a hard punch straight at War Pig. A sheet of blue light deflected the hit back at Eddy, sending him flying safely out of the way of War Pig's charge.

"I knew I wouldn't move fast enough to get out of the way out of that thing's road charge, so I used its counter power to knock me out of the way," Eddy thought, holding his shoulder.

"There's gotta be some loophole we can use to beat Wilfred!" Ed shouted, dancing around the edge of the clearing.

"L—Loophole?" Jimmy stuttered.

"In my comic books, when the superheroes fight a supervillain, they usually fight them for a little bit to get a handle on their power," Ed explained, strafing out of the way of a glowing disk, "when they finally figure out the limitations of the bad guy's power, they use it to turn their ability against them to get the win!"

...Loopholes huh? Eddy turned back to War Pig. Lumpy may have a point—A thought Eddy never entertained before. Everything comes with an Achilles' Heel of some sort, and Wilfred is no exception to that rule. There must be some sort of blind spot that Wilfred is concealing, hiding away.

Sarah watched as Eddy carefully circumnavigated the clearing they were in, his...Stand thing at the ready. War Pig rattled around in a circle until it faced Eddy. Opening its maw wide to ready its next attack, a terrifyingly familiar glass spear came into existence once again, the ethereal projectile meteoring towards Eddy.

 ** _"Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching Ka-ching!"_** Smooth Criminal shouted, pummeling the spear. The lance shattered into ethereal shards and Eddy smiled.

The smile immediately disintegrated as sharp lacerating sensations immediately spread throughout his body. Yelling out in pain, Eddy looked down at his arms to see they were covered in tiny energy shards that were slowly evaporating into the aether. Blood started pouring from the cuts and he crumpled to the ground.

"W—Wil—Wilfred…" Eddy choked out, "Wilfred, controlled those shards into hitting me...that pig is insane…!"

 _"No matter what you do,"_ Wilfred thought, mentally smiling in twisted triumph, _"my War Pig is unstoppable! Your Stand won't be able to shatter my barriers, not in a million years!"_

"Eddy!" Ed cried, rushing towards the shorter Ed.

Wilfred snapped his gaze towards the chunky boy and a barrier materialized into being. It threw itself right at Ed and impacted against Monster Mash's arms instead, having been materialized at the last second.

It crashed into the boy with incredible force, knocking him away from the clearing with a loud ethereal shatter.

 ** _コーシャーアアア！_**

Sarah gaped in abject disbelief and horror; she was the only one left. Rolf was either too injured or dying, Edd was desperately trying to tend to the fallen Rolf, Eddy was essentially incapacitated and Ed was knocked out cold, leaving her, Jimmy and the psycho psychic pig as the only ones left standing.

What can she do? Even though Sarah was told she has a Stand thing, she had absolutely no idea how to summon it, much less command it to fight for her. But Jimmy…

She shot a hopeful look at the curly-haired boy and he stared back. Through an imperceptible wordless conversation of gestures and gazes, Jimmy turned towards the barrier-manipulating Stand user and shouted.

"Hey, you, Wilfred!" Jimmy taunted. Wilfred turned to face the boy, "I'll beat you so badly we'll need to take you to the veterinarian for blunt force trauma!"

Not the best of his insults, Jimmy figured, but it seemed to be working. Wilfred made as angry of a grimace as he could and the treads on War Pig's body started to whir, kicking up dirt. The mechanical Stand immediately launched itself right at Jimmy.

Letting out a frightened, "Eep!" Jimmy quickly dove out of the way, War Pig demolishing a tree or two to into a splintered mess. Carefully edging along the side of the clearing, Jimmy yelped as War Pig once again hurtled itself straight right at him, quickly hopping out of Wilfred's charge.

Hobbling about the clearing, Jimmy quickly turned and jumped out of the way of the enraged Wilfred's third charge, screaming all the while. Gradually, the once standing surrounding trees were nothing more than snapped stumps and shattered branches, felled every few seconds as Wilfred's Stand rammed headlong into it.

Sarah recoiled at every resounding crack and every time Jimmy screamed out in abject terror. She knew exactly what was before her, but some part of her deep inside refused to acknowledge the sheer absurdity of the scene itself. It made watching the spectacle a whole lot more violent than it was.

Jimmy wobbled and quickly held an arm over his head, shielding it from raining wood chunks. Using Carousel's arms to knock the bigger pieces away, Jimmy frantically tried to lift himself off the ground just in the nick of time as another thin barrier sliced down towards the space where his right leg once was.

"AHH!" In a panic, Jimmy quickly pulled himself flush against the trees behind him as Wilfred and his War Pig ominously strode towards him, a barrier flattened to a disk and whirring like a buzzsaw.

That insult might have worked a little too well, Jimmy thought. Huffing angrily through his snout, Wilfred gave a piercing squeal and the barrier disk rocketed right at Jimmy.

"A—Ahhhhh!" Jimmy screamed and hurled himself as far to his left as possible, feeling the disk grazing his hair ever-so-slightly just barely saving himself from a surefire injury.

 ** _ズウズズルルルルルルル!_**

Cutting into a few trees and beyond it, the disk shredded everything in its path, causing a loud rumble to echo throughout all of the woods and well into Rethink Avenue. Jimmy scrambled out of the way of the falling trees, wincing as he felt the powerful shockwave moving from the crashing foliage.

"Nothing works," Sarah uttered, in disbelief, "Physical hits won't break it, it'll just deflect any thrown attacks back at the cause and not even baiting Wilfred into breaking the barrier against the trees work! Heck, even if it somehow works, he'll probably just make a new one right off the bat! Wilfred's Stand thing, is there no weakness?!"

 _"How many times should I make an example until it sinks into your thick human skulls?!"_ the swine thought, irritated, _"My War Pig's barrier, no matter what you do or how you do it, is more indestructible than any diamond!"_

Wilfred turned towards Jimmy as he was getting up and batted him away with a flat disk of energy, _"You're getting annoying!"_

The boy bounced away from the pig on the ground, once, twice, thrice before coming to rest next to a confused but shocked Edd who had quickly divided his focus towards both the slowly recovering Rolf and the now dazed Jimmy.

"Jimmy!" Sarah screamed and felt horror, anxiety and anger bubbling up in her core. How could—How could a pig even dream of harming her best friend?! Her rage boiled like lava and the volcano was about ready to erupt.

"Nobody hurts Jimmy!" Sarah shrieked in righteous fury as a scarlet miasma burst from her body. Wilfred staggered back as a scarlet and orange feminine, semi-robotic humanoid emerged from the red. Lattice motifs decorated its joints, torso, waist, mouth and eyes, bursting forth from Sarah's aura. A crisscrossing lattice crown adorned its head, its flowing hair made of long sheets of mesh material waterfalling from the back of its head, and a thermometer-like structure was embedded in its forearms, legs and hands.

 _"Is that—?!"_

"Temper Temper!" Sarah called out on instinct.

Sarah's newly awakened Stand—Temper Temper menacingly scowled at Wilfred and readied its lithe fists, burning with power. Sarah quickly dashed towards the swine at full speed, rearing her Stand's fist back. Thrusting it forward with all her might, Temper Temper bellowed loudly as it impacted the barrier, its punch causing it to ripple a stark white.

Grunting, Sarah felt herself being pushed back as a single fist exploded forth from the shield, forcing Temper Temper and herself back a few inches.

"There's gotta be something that pig's hiding," Sarah murmured as War Pig swiped a foreleg at Temper Temper, prompting it to counter back with a low kick.

Recalling her memory of the battle so far, Sarah concentrated as Temper Temper continuously wards off the barriers and War Pig's advances from its master, retaliating with punches and brutal kicks.

Various fragmented memories danced through her mind; Rolf's Amarillo Sky cleaving the barrier War Pig had materialized, having the damage returned to him. Jimmy's rock, flying back at him. The spear Eddy broke…

Wait...Eureka!

The projectile barriers Wilfred fired, the spears he launched, they're all susceptible to being broken! And what's more, before Jimmy had goaded the pig into directly attacking, Wilfred had his back against the wall at all times and only used projectiles as his preferred method of attack!

"Why would he need to keep his back against the wall unless his barrier can only cover so much of him? And when I caught him earlier, a only half a sphere's worth of a barrier manifested!" Sarah whispered excitedly under her breath, "And only his front half was covered in that time!"

Using her newfound information, Sarah hastily formulated together a preliminary plan—a plan she had no idea whether it would even work or not, but a plan nonetheless. Carefully inching backwards, Sarah shouted, "Hey you! Yeah you, Wilfred!"

Wilfred, upon the attacking War Pig, glanced at Sarah in annoyance.

"Your War Pig sucks! Even I could fight better than that before this whole Stand business anyway!" Sarah taunted, inching a few steps back every few seconds.

"How about you show me an actually _useful_ attack of yours huh?!" Sarah shouted before her slow backtracking steps turned into a full blown run.

 _"You little brat!"_ With a loud oink that sounded more like a roar, War Pig's maw filled up again with a turquoise light, bathing the entirety of the clearing in a unholy hue of blue.

"COME AT ME!" Sarah shouted back as she put as much distance between her and Wilfred as possible.

An incredibly loud whirring noise signalling the spear's formation pierced the air and even Edd had to stop tending to his two fallen friends to cover his ears and dull the noise. Sarah herself wanted to block her ears to deafen the sound but she quickly turned on her heel, facing Wilfred once again.

The crystal spear shot from War Pig's maw and straight at Sarah. She stood her ground.

"Temper Temper!" Sarah cried out and the scarlet humanoid pummeled the oncoming spear over and over with a loud cry. It crumbled into a pile of ethereal glass that hung in the air, suspended for a few moments.

Another half-second whizzed by before the shards rapidly regained its former speed, veering dangerously close to Sarah. Quickly weaving around the spear fragments as they turned to face her, Sarah quickly dashed head on towards Wilfred at breakneck speed, hearing the wind rushing past her ears.

"Sarah…" Jimmy weakly asked, "What are you doing?"

"I know what I'm doing!" Sarah shouted back. He didn't need to know that she was only being half-truthful.

She could practically sense the shards homing in on her, begging to rip her to shreds. Sarah gritted her teeth and commanded Temper Temper to mercilessly pummel Wilfred's barrier, allowing Wilfred to sustain his attention on her.

Wilfred oinked angrily and a flat barrier manifested into being, thrusting itself forwards into her onslaught. Gritting her teeth, Sarah manifested her Stand's legs over hers and bounded over Wilfred, landing onto the ground behind him.

Sarah tried to hurry into the space where Wilfred had caved the trees into earlier, but felt her foot trip on something. A block of blue energy had manifested into being only a second before and had placed itself right in front of Sarah's next step, tripping her up.

"Ugh!" Falling flat on her face, Sarah grunted as she tried to scramble to her feet. Finally regaining her stature, she awkwardly hobbled backwards, seeing Wilfred approaching her menacingly upon War Pig, a buzzsaw-esque construct levitating next to him. She could feel the malicious intent all collected in that one simple gesture.

"Just try it!" Sarah shouted. Wilfred squealed and the construct shot towards her like a bullet, slicing stray twigs off of their branches.

"Temper Temper!" Sarah's Stand immediately jumped into action and threw a barrage of punches at the construct, fracturing it into harmless shards at the cost of multiple laceration wounds spreading throughout Temper Temper's hands.

Sarah yelped in pain as the wounds on her Stand's hands transferred to herself. She grunted, pressing down on the free-flowing cuts on her hands, trying her best to numb the wounds before Wilfred suddenly made a tiny spasm.

Sarah smirked; Perfect. War Pig fizzled out from beneath Wilfred and the pig collapsed onto the ground, barely supporting himself from the pain of having multiple of his own ethereal shards embedding themselves in his lower half.

"I noticed a few things earlier in our fight," Sarah started, smug, "Your barriers are pretty darn durable, and even that doesn't just describe its toughness. Yeah, no matter what we throw at you, as long it's right in front, you're not even going to get a scratch. But, remember that little barrier you threw at us earlier?

"When Rolf used his power on it, it cleaved harmlessly and didn't cut him back. When you fired another barrier at him a little afterwards, he divided it in two and again and nothing happened to him! But when he tried to directly attack you, he got his ability turned back against him! So it's looks like only non-projectile attacks are the ones that are unbreakable!

"I saw that you used the fragments left over from the spear the fathead broke to hurt him back. That's pretty dang clever, I gotta give you kudos for that. Well, clever for a pig anyways. I figured if I broke that projectile attack, you'd try to control the fragments into hitting me, so I run at you and try to distract you so that you don't figure out my plan before it could be successful." Sarah finished, "And it looks like I did pretty darn well."

Despite his dazed condition, Wilfred mustered as much spite into his gaze as possible. Being outsmarted by a fourth-grader! His pride couldn't take it anymore!

 _"War Pig!"_

"Temper Temper!"

Two ghostly entities jumped into action but it was Sarah who got the first-last strike, having managed to close the distance before Wilfred could even manifest his own War Pig. Temper Temper's fist crashed through his hastily erected barrier like a thin sheet of paper and headlong into the unprotected head of War Pig, causing Wilfred's own head to get similarly deformed.

"And now, eat _this_!"

 ** _"Get-lost get-lost get-lost get-lost get-lost get-lost get-lost get-lost get-lost get-lost get-lost!"_** Temper Temper roared, a barrage of countless blurring fists rushing into and crashing against War Pig relentlessly. It burned with power and every strike hit harder than a pipe bomb, practically exploding from the power it contained.

"This one's for Jimmy!" Sarah shouted, a hard punch aimed at War Pig's maw for punctuation, "This one's for my idiot but lovable older brother, this one's for Eddy the fat head and this one's for Rolf!"

Each punch marked by her words struck harder than the last. Wilfred was barely hanging onto his consciousness with every fist making their mark. The last fist uppercut him right off of his hooves and into the air with a loud, **_"Get lost!"_**

"And that one's for me," Sarah finished coldly, tranquil fury in her voice, "Get lost."

* * *

 **Wilfred the Pig, User of the Stand _War Pig_!  
** **STATUS:  
** **OUT OF COMMISSION! [RETIRED!]**

* * *

Wilfred hit the tree, a loud thunking noise ringing out from the impact against the tree and his consciousness gave up trying to cling onto the waking world. Wilfred slid down the tree trunk, out cold and unresponsive to any stimuli.

Sarah panted heavily as Temper Temper hovered a little behind her, slightly slumped over with exhaustion clear in its frame. Sarah winced at the sharp jolting pains scattered throughout her knuckles and hands. She had been so tunnel visioned on ensuring Wilfred's defeat that she had unconsciously tuned out all pain from her mind.

The cuts stung and demanded restitution for being ignored for so long. Clenching her left hand over her right, Sarah stumbled towards the mostly-recovered Rolf, the relieved Edd and the mildly injured Jimmy.

"Y'guys okay?" Sarah mumbled out.

"Well, Rolf is recuperating nicely and Jimmy's own injuries are fairly light, so yes, we're doing okay," Edd replied succinctly, "Do you need some help with your hands?"

"What do you think?" Sarah asked sarcastically. Dropping to the ground next to the boys, Sarah held out her hands as Edd carefully examined the cuts.

"These are rather heavy cuts," Edd murmured, concerned. He took a bottle of disinfectant, a few cotton pads and a tin of Rolf's salve from his pockets.

The boy spent the next few minutes silently cleaning up her open wounds. Edd worked diligently to wipe the excess blood off of her hands, carefully disinfecting it before he scooped up a small amount of the mystical salve and spread it over her bleeding knuckles.

Sarah heard the leaves rustling behind them and turned to see a mildly confused Ed stumbling his way through a shrub.

"D—Did we win?" Ed slurred.

Sarah released a heavy sigh with a smile, "Yeah, we did."

"Hooray!" Ed happily pranced towards Sarah and joyfully gave her a large and constricting embrace. Monster Mash similarly emerged from Ed's body and happily enwrapped Temper Temper in a tight hug.

Annoyed, Sarah pushed away the larger boy from her and Temper Temper likewise pushed away the muscular armored humanoid.

"Jeez, you don't need to baby me that much," Sarah hissed as she returned her hands back into Edd's own but her smile softened slightly, "But I am glad that the whole Wilfred debacle is over. Speaking of which," Her voice started to rise in volume.

"What in the everloving _heck_ is—"

"Oh my gosh, Eddy!" Ed cried out in shock. Just a small ways away from the group, the nearly-forgotten Eddy laid against a tree, laceration wounds decorating his chest and arms and bleeding freely. His eyes were squeezed shut and his chest rose and fell ever-so-slightly. Sarah had guessed he was rendered unconscious from the pain.

"Oh goodness, I didn't even have time pull Eddy out of the crossfire of your confrontations," Edd said, concerned, "Ed, take this salve and apply it to Eddy's wounds—"

The boy had already snatched the tin from Edd's outstretched hand and rushed off towards the unconscious Eddy. Popping the lid off, Ed grabbed pinches of the salve and smeared it against his open wounds, rubbing it against his cuts as thoroughly as possible.

Half a minute into Ed's rather rough healing, Eddy's eyes snapped open and stared at the hands that were rubbing his own hind arms rather roughly. He angrily slapped Ed's hands away and pried the salve from his hands.

"I can do it myself, thank you very much," Eddy hissed before he started to treat his own wounds, carefully applying the light mint ointment to his skin. Slowly but surely, the cuts mended back together, bleeding ceased and the only leftover hint of his injuries was the spent tin of salve.

Sarah watched as Rolf groggily got up into a sitting position, hand over his sliced chest. Her eyes widened when the once gaping wound was literally healing before her very eyes, slowly molding themselves back together like they were clay.

"Thankfully, even though Wilfred's Stand had redirected the damage to himself, it still technically counts as Rolf's own ability so he managed to heal quite successfully," Rolf sighed, relieved.

"Well thankfully, this incident ended without anyone being too heavily wounded," Edd breathed out, similarly relieved. Sarah stared at Edd dubiously.

"Uh, Rolf looked like he took a butcher's knife to the chest, Eddy basically had a window smashed into his body, Jimmy hit the ground _three_ freaking times, Ed literally got knocked out and a magic pig sliced up my hands like you wouldn't believe. I don't really see this ending without anyone being hurt, if anything you're the only guy who came outta this untouched!"

"I should rephrase that," Edd murmured, "I meant everyone got wounded but thankfully everyone recovered from it with no complications."

"Alright, I'm back in tip-top shape now!" Eddy proclaimed, tossing the empty tin towards Edd.

Rolf nodded, "Now that everyone is back to their top shape, shall we make our escape from this miniature forest of strife?"

The blue-haired boy walked towards the still unconscious Wilfred and hoisted the swine over his shoulder.

"Come on everybody!" Rolf proclaimed, but Sarah quickly stepped before him, intercepting his path.

"Hold up, farmer man," Sarah demanded, "before we ditch the woods and forget this day ever happened, I want a frigging answer! Like, for everything! First, Wilfred the magic pig pulls a Harry Potter, shows magic powers and magic-wall'd everything in his path, then my idiot brother and his friends turn out to be magical and in cahoots with you, Jimmy is somehow involved in this mess, and now _I'm_ knee-deep in whatever you guys are knee-deep in?! Seriously, you are _not_ talking your way out of this! Give me some actual answers, darn you!"

When Sarah was done with her tirade, Rolf stared behind him towards the group of Eds and the lone Jimmy, also staring back. The boys turned to look back at Sarah and she angrily stares back. They quickly glanced at each other before shuffling into a small huddle, whispering amongst themselves and deliberated through decisions.

Edd broke away from the huddle and turned towards the orange-haired girl.

"Well, we can't keep such pivotal information from you even if we tried our damnedest, especially now that you share our type of abilities," Edd admitted, "but...this starts a fair while ago so we might want to sit down."

Sarah watched as the boys in front of her settled into a comfortable cross-legged position on the ground, with Rolf's hold over Wilfred remaining steadfast.

Sarah folded her arms and leaned against a tree, "Well, be the storyteller and storytell away, mister."

Edd sighed, "Our dilemma started during spring break, when Rolf…..."

* * *

"And Wilfred escaped when our attention was diverted towards looking for our arrow, so our surveillance on him was far more lenient, giving him ample time take flight. Rolf retrieved all of us today and, well, you know the rest."

Sarah slid down the tree she was propped up against. She didn't know what to say. She had nothing to say for this kind of situation. Oh my god.

Her mouth was slightly hanging open in shock, her eyes were dilated in horror, her entire frame was locked up and stiff and her brain had to practically rewire itself to comprehend the words her brother's friend were speaking.

"Y—You mean," Sarah started, voice hushed, "there's a magic arrow out in our town, and you guys are looking for it? And it already found two people?"

"Tony Sampson and Febrie February from Eddy's and Ed's information and perhaps a third is on their way by educated guess," Edd clarified, "but yes, that's essentially the reason why we are so busy recently. To recover the arrow before it can create any problematic Stand users that may use their powers for...less-than-harmless purposes."

"And I get this weird feeling in my gut that Tony and Wilfred are only the beginnings of a bigger problem," Eddy piped up beside Jimmy, arm suspended on his knee.

"But...how did I get a Stand?" Sarah asked, "If people who got shot by the arrow get their own Stands, then how did I get one even though the arrow didn't even come near me?"

"Well, since you share Ed's blood, when Ed got his Monster Mash through the arrow, his Stand potential must have passed down to you through your bloodline," Edd stated blandly.

Sarah nodded dumbly; the sheer overload of over a week's worth of esoteric knowledge that was crammed into her head was almost too much to comprehend all at once. She massaged her temple to soothe it of a sudden headache that had made itself known and tried to organize the small timeline of events in her mind.

First, Rolf tried to clean the arrow, but it hit Wilfred and gave him a Stand. After that…uh...Sarah sighed and massaged her temples again; what's the point of even organizing the timeline of events? They've already happened and if Rolf's words were to be trusted, then what she needs to worry about now is the future.

More Stand users...and two of them already came to being. Well, seven or eight would be the more technically accurate term but the point still stands. And now, she's knee-deep in everything the Eds, Jimmy and Rolf were in.

Sarah awkwardly shot a look towards her Stand—Temper Temper, she reminded herself. She had no idea what had spurred her on to name her psychical avatar that but it simply...clicked and felt right. The scarlet humanoid sat next to Jimmy's Carousel and, talked with it? It just looked like Temper Temper was just facing Carousel and made tiny little nods as though it were responding to its words despite the actual lack of words.

Off to the side, Smooth Criminal, Monster Mash and Amarillo Sky hovered in the air a little behind their users and interacted amongst themselves, with Monster Mash making little gestures, Smooth Criminal leaning on its hand with a mildly bored expression and Amarillo Sky leaning in, slightly intrigued.

Sarah didn't really understand why their Stands had manifested their forms but no one really made an active attempt to dematerialize them. They floated in the clearing and it made the little space surrounded by trees feel a little more filled out.

The stars shone their light upon the group of children brightly, breaking through the monotonous dark sky. The woods they were in were fairly distant from any building complexes or neighborhoods, so there weren't as much light pollution here as there would be in, say, the woods surrounding Rethink Avenue save for the rare occasion of blackouts. Clear skies plus little-to-no light pollution equals a great hot spot for any kids that were into stargazing.

They sat there for around fifteen-ish minutes before Edd audibly gasped as though he realized they had been under the night sky for an hour.

"It's Thursday tomorrow! We have school then!"

Eddy groaned, "Why can't it be Friday tomorrow? We just busted our backs so that Wilfred won't make a mess outta the entire town! Can we just, I dunno, say we're sick and play hooky?"

"No," Edd's reply was succinct, "I cannot, on my good conscience allow you to skip your education program."

"C'mon, D!" Eddy shouted as the boys and lone girl quickly stood up, "I know you wanna stay at home too!"

The argument went back and forth, even as they ventured back home. For some reason, the trip back home felt longer than the trip into the woods, though Sarah guessed it was because none of them were in any rush to go home. The stars glimmered above them, and the shadows cast from the trees fell onto the uneven leafy ground.

A few minutes passed by them and they stood in the intersection that lead to their beloved cul-de-sac. Rolf turned towards the posse of kids.

"Well, Rolf's afraid he must dedicate his night to building a far more secure pig pen tailored to Wilfred, so that this incident won't repeat itself for a second time,"

"Does that mean you won't be at school tomorrow?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, possibly yes," Rolf nodded.

"Lucky guy," Eddy grumbled under his breath but noticed Edd had remained quiet, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Rolf basically said he's going to stay at home tomorrow but you didn't chew him out. Why am I being targeted here?"

"Rolf is staying at home for a good reason," Edd stated, "You just desire to stay at home and loaf about."

"I got sliced up like you wouldn't believe back there! I'm pretty sure that's a pretty good reason to stay at home!"

"Your wounds have long since healed then." The witty banter shot back and forth, even as the two Eds walked back to their house for a long awaited rest. Rolf marched off towards his home to presumably start on his construction of the pig pen while Jimmy made a tiny little yawn and walked off towards his home, waving Sarah and Ed a tired goodbye.

The two siblings stood in place and quietly glanced at each other before they both silently set towards their sweet home. Ed reached into his pants pockets and pulled out a single brass house key. He shoved it roughly into the keyhole and gave a light twist of his wrist, causing the lock to click and allow entry.

The Christensen residence was dark and poorly lit, with streams of moonlight acting as Ed and Sarah's only illumination. The older boy turned to Sarah.

"Umm…" Ed started hesitantly, fidgeting with the fabric of his musty jacket, "Well, I know this really isn't the best place to ask you and you're probably kinda tired but...do you wanna get involved in all this?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well," Ed paused to make a wide sweeping gesture with his arms, "this problem we're in! The arrow, the Stand kids and just all sorts of weird problems in general. Do you wanna get mixed up with our stuff?"

Sarah released a beleaguered sigh, "Honestly, even if I try I don't think I could get away from this… well, the Stand problem. I think I wanna be a part of your world a little more, be the little sister like you'd want me to be, even if it's kinda embarrassing. I prefer being wrapped up in trouble on my own terms anyways."

"..." Ed quietly stood in place.

"So yeah, I think I'll see what kind of things you have to deal with, now that I have my own Stand thing—" Sarah felt a pair of arms embrace her in a hug. She didn't push him away and allowed the putrid scent commonly associated with Ed to envelop her. Despite his unpleasant odor, Sarah had grown comfortable around it and associated it with home.

A warm emotion swelled up in her heart and it persisted even after Ed disengaged himself from the embrace.

"Good night baby sister."

Sarah watched as the chunky boy retreated into the darkness of the basement with a comforting look. She breathed out a single sigh and hobbled towards her bedroom, exhaustion tinged with a desire to see dreams.

She quietly turned the knob of her door open and flopped onto her bed, releasing a heavy groan. She wanted to sleep so badly, but something kept tugging her mind back into consciousness. Keeping such vital and important information would eat away at her rest, so she quickly got off of her bed and pulled out a soft rosy white hardbound book, bound close by a brass lock.

Sarah rooted around for a pencil and found a pen laying on her table. Biting the cap off and using a desk light for illumination, she wrote her most interesting entry.

* * *

 **Dear Diary, today was probably the craziest day I have ever had in my life. It started when Rolf barged into our house like he owned the place and snatched Jimmy away from our delicious lunch so that he can help find Wilfred, you know, the dumb pig. And turns out that dumb pig was also a magic pig, when he used this weird power called a Stand that can make barriers and launch them around like rockets.**

 **Oh wait, you don't know what a Stand is. Well, according to cute ol' Double-D, apparently this Stand thing is some sort of magic projection made by our life force and can have all sorts of wacky abilities, some can be just ordinary stuff or some can be super powerful like mine! Yeah, I have my own superpower and it doubles as a bodyguard, neat! Her name is Temper Temper (or it, I dunno) and I dunno what its' power is just yet, but Rolf said I could find out what it is soon.**

 **I wonder what he means by that.**

 **Love, Sarah.**

 **PS. I need to vent my confusion and shock by the fact that Jimmy basically caused all of this, even though it's by accident. So excuse me for a second.**

 **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!**

* * *

Somewhere in another neighborhood in Peach Creek, a boy with dark hair scratched at a cut on his shoulders idly. It was past midnight, why was he still up?

Despite his thoughts of staying up, he conked out just as quickly as he woke up inexplicably. Deep inside his core, something burned.

Waiting.

* * *

 **Jack's Notes**

 **Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! This came out a little longer than I expected but hey, maybe that's what you guys want. Next chapter will center around Sarah's second Stand battle, so look out for that! Huge thanks to my Discord friend _Logical_Dreamer_ for betareading this chapter, thanks to them, this entire chapter is so much better than what I have in mind! Thanks for reading this silly little fic of mine, it's really been fun thinking up wonky-af and bizarre situations for the Eds to be in. I'm happy you guys enjoyed this so much!  
**

 **What do you think of Wilfred's Stand? And Sarah's involvement in this? Hope you like it!**

 **Well, if you have any concerns or questions, PM or review me, just keep straight to the point, will ya? Or if you like parts of it, leave behind a nice review!**

 **Until next time!**

* * *

 **STAND NAME: Temper Temper**

 **STAND MASTER: Sarah Christensen**

 **Destructive** **Power: A+  
Durability: B-  
Range: D+  
Speed: B+  
Precision: C  
Developmental Potential: B-  
**

 **Ability** **— ?  
**

* * *

 **STAND NAME: War Pig**

 **STAND MASTER: Wilfred the Pig**

 **Destructive Power:** **C+** **  
Durability:** **A+** **  
Range:** **D** **  
Speed:** **B-** **  
Precision:** **D-** **  
Developmental Potential:** **C+**

 **Ability — Energy Constructs: War Pig's ability endows Wilfred with the power to create energy-based constructs and attacks, such as barriers, spears and blades. War Pig's barriers are utterly unbreakable and can redirect any sorts of attack back at the cause, whether the attack is non-material by nature, is a projectile or physical attacks such as punches. However, there are loopholes in this ability in that while the thrown barriers can counter attacks, it can be affected by an ability that instead affects the barrier itself and spears and similar attacks can shatter with sufficient force. Barriers protecting Wilfred himself can only cover half of his body at a time and can be tricked into misdirecting his own attack to hit him where his body is unexposed.**


End file.
